


Bloodlines

by MistressArafax



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Blood Drinking, Family, M/M, Smut, Weird Love Triangle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-25 21:51:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 42,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17129381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressArafax/pseuds/MistressArafax
Summary: Bloodlines. Somehow they were the cause of the whole tragedy he found himself in.A woman seeking revenge. No, not a woman. A monster. A vampire. His master's master.A family torn apart. His family. All dead.Mysteries unravel as the pendulum of time swings back and forth. To the present and the past.And his master, his Youngjae, has promised to stand with him until the end.





	1. July 6th (Youngjae)

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposting this story from my asianfanfics account. I'll probably clean it up some as I go along, but mostly this is just a copy and paste adventure.

Monday, July 6, 2043

6:37 PM

“Youngjae ah,” the man next to him breathed, curling his back so he pressed against him.

Youngjae yawned, not ready to wake up. “Ah, Daehyunnie, let’s stay a little longer.” He put his arm around his bedmate. His partner. He refused to think of him as anything less than that despite the traditional relationship between masters and those they’d turned.

“I miss her,” he whined.

“Did you dream of her again, Daehyunnie?” Youngjae whispered, giving him a supportive squeeze.

She was the reason they were here, together. An Sora. Thinking the name flooded Youngjae’s mind with memories of their time together. Falling in love with her and realizing the depths of her anger and despair, and how those emotions were the result of just how much she’d loved her husband and her daughter. He had tasted her memories when they made love and had felt the depths of her love for her lost family. He had even grown fond of them himself, after her strong feelings had been transferred to him to some degree. She was the reason why he’d taken in Daehyun initially. After she’d kill herself to protect them, Youngjae had vowed to do what he could to carry on her will.

The other vampire nodded. “I want to see her…” Daehyun requested timidly. Shifting himself around, he rolled so he was facing Youngjae and cast him a pleading look.

Youngjae was especially weak to Daehyun’s charms. Plus, he usually ceded to every request Daehyun made that had anything to do with Sora. Anything that would make him happier. Daehyun had been her husband so very long ago, and still, he struggled to move past the loss of his wife. “You may taste my blood, Daehyun,” Youngjae agreed.

Without another word, Daehyun sank his fangs into Youngjae’s neck. If Youngjae weren’t so used to this, he might have flinched at the feeling of teeth penetrating his skin. But this bite was familiar. It was erotic in some ways, having Daehyun taste him, his blood allowing the other man to see his own past recollections. Daehyun would specifically look for his memories with Sora, and he didn’t mind. He had promised to take care of Daehyun, and if the other vampire wished to see Sora, then Youngjae would allow it.

He wasn’t sure what memory Daehyun was recalling, but he assumed it was something rather sensual. Daehyun moaned and began thrusting against him slowly. His erection was growing stiffer by the second, and Youngjae grunted as he felt Daehyun’s erection brushing against his upper thigh. He couldn’t help the excitement that coursed through him. “Daehyun, I’m going to bite you,” he whispered, feeling his own length begin to press against his pants.

“Mmmm,” Daehyun answered, teeth still burrowed into his neck.

He took that as acknowledgement, dipping his head just enough so that he could pierce his fangs into Daehyun’s neck. He tasted his partner, the sweet, delicious taste of blood flooding his mouth. And the memory Daehyun was living in was shared with him. He could see Sora’s face, feel her around his dick, squeezing him wonderfully. He could feel the sensation of her orgasming around his erection, and he groaned, biting into Daehyun’s neck more deeply, making the other recoil in pain.

“Youngjae,” he grumbled after immediately pulling away, “that hurt.”

“I’m sorry. It was… a really erotic memory,” Youngjae apologized. He could still feel Daehyun’s now fully upright cock rubbing against him. He cupped Daehyun’s face in his hand, and then kissed him. “You’ve got me really turned on right now.”

“I want you,” Daehyun stated plainly. “Make me forget her, Master.”

Youngjae’s cock twitched. He wanted to tell Daehyun not to call him master. But it was just so fucking hot when he did it at times like this. “As you wish,” Youngjae replied.

He wasted no time, pulling off Daehyun’s trousers, as well as his own. Neither had a shirt. They’d only just begun to rouse after sleeping for the day as sunset drew nearer. Without hesitation, Daehyun kissed his way down Youngjae’s chest, being careful to not graze him with his fangs. He took Youngjae’s engorged member into his hands, pumping several times, and Youngjae couldn’t help the moan the escaped his lips. “Fuck,” Youngjae whispered, feeling perilously close to coming before they’d even really began.

“I want to please you, Master,” Daehyun whispered impishly, looking at up at him with a deceptively innocent gaze.

“You just want to tease me. We don’t have time for this. I have to be in to work this evening,” Youngjae growled.

Daehyun smirked and circling his tongue over the tip of his cock so painfully slowly.

“Daehyun…” Youngjae growled in warning. “Stop teasing and get on with it.” Out of frustration, he’d accidentally said it as an Order, pulling at the connection that bound Daehyun, his creation and, therefore, his servant, to him, lessening the possibility that Daehyun would defy him.

Daehyun glared up at him. “I thought you promised to not give me Orders.”

“You are the one calling me ‘Master’,” he retorted. Still, he felt guilty about it. He’d promised to give Daehyun as much free will as possible and not excessively use his position of power to Order around his one and only progeny. “I’m sorry,” he said finally. “We just don’t have enough time this evening.”

“Then promise you’ll let me tease you when you get home in the morning?”

“It’s a deal.” Youngjae thought it was a deal he might regret. Regardless of how much he might regret it later, it had resolved the problem for now. Daehyun took his cock into his mouth, sucking noisily, bobbing his head against his length, and giving him nearly unbearable bliss. He wanted to cum so bad. Daehyun massaged his balls as he ran his tongue along the length of Youngjae’s erection. It was too much to handle in his already aroused state, and he released his load into Daehyun’s mouth, white light dotting his vision as he succumbed to the feeling of euphoria racing through his body.

He caught his breath quickly thanks to his vampire body. He roughly pulled Daehyun away from his crotch, holding onto his chin and dragging his face to his own, kissing him passionately. God, he loved this man. He could taste his own cum on his lover’s lips. He pulled his lips away momentarily, whispering huskily, “Your turn.” He heard Daehyun swallow, and he sank his fangs into his partner’s neck, snaking his hand down to jerk the other off. As he did so, he searched Daehyun’s memories. He instantly was provided one of Sora, riding atop Daehyun’s cock, back from his days as a human. Back when they had both been human. Youngjae wanted Daehyun to ride him like that, too. It was just so fucking hot.

Daehyun groaned as he got closer to his own release. “Youngjae,” he moaned, “I want it… inside.”

Youngjae hurriedly complied. The squirming vampire under him, plus the vision of the past he’d seen had gotten him plenty hard again. Though Daehyun was definitely going to need a little stretching first to accommodate him. He abandoned his position at Daehyun’s neck, leaving bloody marks as he kissed down his lover’s chest. He stopped at the other’s cock, taking it into his own mouth, giving him a lazy blowjob while he pressed a finger into Daehyun, reaching up and in, searching for his prostate. It wasn’t much of a search. In the nearly 20 years they’d been together, Youngjae had memorized the exact locations that gave Daehyun the greatest pleasure. He pressed against it, and Daehyun thrust against him involuntarily. “Yes,” Daehyun hissed.

He added a second finger, pumping them into Daehyun and being sure to hit his prostate with each stroke. Youngjae relaxed his throat, thankful that he didn’t need to breath, as each of his thrusts into Daehyun resulted in the other burying his cock deeply into his own throat. He snuck a third finger in, and that was when Daehyun came, the bitter, salty liquid spurting into Youngjae’s mouth. With an devious grin, he spat the cum into his own hand and then smeared it all over his own cock. He rolled onto his back and pulled Daehyun to straddle him.

“I want you on top,” Youngjae said.

Daehyun nodded his understanding, and then slowly and carefully slid himself onto Youngjae’s erection. Youngjae groaned when he felt himself fully seated within Daehyun’s heat. “You’re so fucking tight,” he huskily breathed.

Daehyun gave him a cheeky grin, before grinding himself against the other, teasing him. “I love feeling you inside me.” Youngjae began moving then, pounding into his lover’s eager channel. He made sure he was hitting the other’s prostate with each thrust, the effort and tightness making him pant. He could see Daehyun was now hard again too, his dick standing proud and flexing with each of Youngjae’s thrusts. He reached out and held onto Daehyun’s hips, guiding the other’s movements against his cock, feeling his own ecstasy building. “I’m close, Youngjae,” Daehyun grunted, bending down to kiss his neck. Daehyun slid his hands between them, eyes closed as he touched himself and succumbed to pleasure. Youngjae heard him growl into his neck, felt the warm, sticky cum splatter onto his stomach, but most of all, he felt Daehyun tense as he was overwhelmed by his orgasm. Daehyun’s muscles clenching around him was so delectably tight, he couldn’t help coming again, unleashing his load inside of Daehyun.

Daehyun relaxed on top of him comfortably, spent and satisfied, and he was plenty comfortable beneath him, feeling is cock steadily going more flaccid inside of Daehyun as his release slowly trickled out. He glanced over at the clock. 7:38. He needed to start getting ready so he could get to work on time. “I have to get up, Daehyunnie,” he said regretfully.

With a sigh, Daehyun rolled off of him, and he felt a bit of regret about not being inside Daehyun anymore. “I needed that tonight. She’s been in my dreams a lot recently.”

Youngjae glanced over at him. He had sticky blood trails running down his chest and looked like an overall mess. He could only assume he looked the same. Not like he’d be able to see his own reflection to be able tell though. “You loved her,” Youngjae said with a shrug, sitting up. “I loved her, too. And now…”

“Now we love each other,” Daehyun finished, his voice deep and masculine.

“Yeah,” Youngjae breathed.

“When will you be back?” Daehyun questioned.

“Shift should be over at about 3:30,” he explained. “Depends on how messy the patrons make the bar.” It wasn’t a great job, but bartending and waiting gave him a source of income, so he could afford an apartment, and he didn’t have to live with his siblings nor rely on the generosity of his master, the evil bitch. This place was happy to have him work at night, and it fortunately didn’t have mirrors anywhere other than the bathroom. He knew his time there was getting short. Pretty soon they’d start getting suspicious about why he hadn’t aged any. He’d have to look for a new job, and he hated having to go through that process again because it was spectacularly hard to find people willing to do interview outside of normal business hours. But it was better than having to rely on his master to give him allowance.

Youngjae stood up from the bed and headed to shower. He knew he needed to wash the blood off his neck and chest and wherever else it may have gotten. Damn vampire sex always got so bloody. Not that he really minded. He got dressed in his work uniform, asking Daehyun to make sure nothing about his appearance was out of place.

“You look amazing. As always,” he’d replied.

It was about time to leave. 8 PM. The sun had already set, but twilight hadn’t faded to darkness. However, it was still safe for Youngjae to go outside. He gave Daehyun a kiss on the lips, saying goodbye. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Yeah. And uh… I’m a little thirsty so, if you could, could you bring back dinner.”

“You could go find someone yourself, you know,” Youngjae teased, shaking his head, well aware that Daehyun was afraid to leave the apartment by himself. Afraid that he’d lose control and kill someone without Youngjae there to stop him. “You have a phone. You can use the dating app like I do.”

“You’re better at it.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll see what I can do,” he agreed. With that, he headed on his way.


	2. June 28 (Daehyun)

June 28, 2024

"Appa, I'm scared."

Daehyun wrapped his arms around his 4-year old daughter, clutching her to his chest. "It's okay, Ji-eunie. Appa will protect you," he reassured. He wished he could have told her that there was nothing to be scared of, but he knew better now. There was plenty to be afraid of in the dark.

He'd taken her to a playground to play and then they'd gone for a late lunch. It was his 31st birthday, and his greatest wish had been to act as though he had a normal family. To feel like a normal single dad for once and not like the paranoid, crazy man he'd become.

Since his wife's disappearance, he refused to go outside at night and had scheduled their day to ensure they returned home before the sun set. He knew what lurked in the shadows. Vampires. And the sheer knowledge that they existed terrified him. He'd been responsible for his wife being attacked. He’d answered the phone call. He’d told the foreign girl that she could stop in. He was sure that was who had caused his wife’s disappearance. But he couldn’t just tell the police, “Vampires attacked my wife,” without sounding like a crazy person. And he was too scared to go look for her on his own.

He remembered returning home that Sunday night, Ji-eun in his arms. He walked in, anxious and the door was open and after seeing the apartment in disarray, he’d panicked. Sora wasn’t there. He called for her frantically. He saw the blood on the floor, the contents of their closets emptied, scattered all over the floor. He’d reached for his phone and called the police. This needed investigated. They’d been stumped of course. “She was writing a text to tell you that she was attacked by vampires,” the officer told him. He saw the message. It couldn’t be real. But Sora wouldn’t have lied. And while the cops laughed it off as a joke and continued to gather evidence, Daehyun began to panic. Because Sora wouldn’t have lied. He had gathered what he could and left, fleeing as far as he could as quickly as he could. Vampires were out there, and he and Ji-eun were not safe.

He sighed. No amount of holy water or crosses or garlic or blessed weapons could help him feel safe, not when he knew that he was probably being hunted. It was only during the day that he could relax, and even then, he couldn’t focus on anything other than what the next night might bring. Spending the day out with Ji-eun had been a welcome reprieve. Going into the sunshine, carrying his daughter around, watching her play and just be so happy and vibrant and full of life. He loved her so much. She felt like the only bright spot left in his bleak existence.

He sometimes thought about trying to remarry, if for no other reason than he thought his daughter might like to have a mother figure. But the idea of it left a bad taste in his mouth. He wasn’t ready. Despite the two years that had passed since Sora had disappeared, he couldn’t move on yet. His heart still ached for her. He figured it was because no body had ever been recovered. And with no body, there was no evidence that she was dead. Regardless, he knew he was too much of a hot mess for any woman in their right mind to want anything to do with. A man who was so paranoid of being attacked by vampires that he wouldn’t go out at night and didn’t invite strangers into his home? Yeah, he’d have a lot of dating success…

Ji-eun buried her face into his chest, pulling him from his thoughts. “The dark is scary,” she whined at him, starting to cry.

He kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back comfortingly. “We’ll sleep together tonight,” Daehyun promised. “With the light on.” Having the light would help him feel more at ease. However, he doubted he’d get more than a few hours of sleep, which he wouldn’t get until after sunrise. He would lie holding his daughter, a wooden stake beside the thick mattress on the floor should an intruder break in, and he’d browse the internet, looking for articles that might indicate vampire activity. Missing people. Unsolved murders. Animal attacks.

As Ji-eun’s tears ceased, Daehyun wiped her face off with his thumb tenderly and smiled at her. “It’s okay, little lady,” he insisted, pretending to feel a hope he didn’t actually feel. “Let’s get you cleaned up, and then we’ll go to bed.”

She nodded, and he set her down. She stayed close to him while he gathered her pajamas and her towel. He filled the tub with water, making sure it was a comfortable temperature for her, and then helping her undress before he lifted her up and placed her in the warm water. He sat down on a stool on the other side of the tub and carefully helped her wash her hair. It would need cut soon, he realized. It had grown quite long. Once she’d rinsed her hair out and cleaned herself off, he let her play for a bit. He rested his elbow on the side of the tub, chin in his hand, and just watched her as she splashed in the water, thoughts wandering.

She looked like him more than her mother. Aside from her lips, which were distinctly similar to Sora’s, her face was almost a mirror image of his at four years old. The shape of her face and her eyes and her nose. Everything. There was no denying that this was his daughter.

He was well aware that without Ji-eun, he’d have given up a long time ago. But his daughter gave him hope and a reason to keep living. She would have had nothing without him, and it gave him the will to persevere despite his own sorrow and the deep paranoia that haunted him. He loved her with every fiber of his being and would do everything in his power to keep her safe. His only ray of sunshine in an ugly gray world.

He hoped Ji-eun didn’t realize how dependent he was on her. He hoped she felt normal. She would start school soon, and the idea terrified him. Sure, it was during the day, but what if something happened? What if she didn’t get home until after dark. He didn’t know if he could stand having her gone from him all day. The idea of it made him anxious. Maybe he could hold off on putting her into school for another year. Maybe he could home school her. He just didn’t want to have her away from him for any length of time.

“Appa,” she called, getting his attention again. “I love you.”

He felt his heart melt at her proclamation. “I love you too, Ji-eunie.” He reached out and touched her wet hair.  “Are you done?”

She nodded. He drained the tub and had her stand up so he could wipe away the excess water on her skin and wrapped her in her towel. He picked her up and set her down outside of the tub. He dressed her in her pajamas, and he then helped her start on brushing her teeth, and then he brushed his teeth, as well. He washed his own face off quickly before grabbing the hair brush, and then he took her hand and led her to his room. Anymore it was their room. Ji-eun refused to sleep by herself in the small apartment. She was afraid of the dark, and Daehyun certainly didn't mind his daughter being around to keep him company through the night. He sat down on his mattress pad and directed Ji-eun to sit in front of him. He began brushing out her hair, and soon enough, her head was drooping to the front as she fought off the sleep.

"Ji-eunah," Daehyun started, "let's go to bed."

She nodded sleepily, and then crawled into the space that had become her spot on the bed. She snuggled into the pillow, and Daehyun positioned himself beside her, wrapping her in his arms as he held her protectively. "Goodnight, Appa," she said quietly.

"Goodnight, Ji-eunie," he breathed to her in return. Daehyun sang to her softly, and she fell asleep nearly instantly.

He smiled and then kissed the top of her head. He knew she couldn't hear him, but he quietly said, "I love you so much, Ji-eun. So so much."

Daehyun stayed still with her in his arms for quite some time. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but as the night grew deeper, his anxiety returned. Heart pounding rapidly in his chest, he recalled the feeling of finding his wife's text to him on her phone. Of fleeing immediately. Realizing that he'd probably never feel safe as long as he lived because vampires were out there. Maybe they were hunting him down right now. But none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that he kept Ji-eun safe. And he'd do that by whatever means necessary.


	3. September 5 (Youngjae)

September 5, 2018

Youngjae quizzically looked at the teenage girl standing in the distance. There was something strange about her, he realized, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. She was a foreigner, he assumed, judging from her blonde, curly hair, but that wasn’t all that odd. Foreigners in Seoul were a common sight. The strangest thing about her was that she stood in the cool rain that night with no jacket or umbrella, hands on her hips. Her attitude seemed inappropriate for her situation.

Youngjae decided to offer her help because she seemed like she needed it. He was headed to the store that evening, after all. He would get her a jacket and pay her bus fare to get her back to where she needed to be, which was obviously not lost and alone on a street in the middle Seoul.

As he approached her, he noted her extremely fair complexion and strangely colored eyes. He’d never seen eyes that looked like hers. A cherry chocolate color. She was so petite and beautiful, if he was honest. “Hi,” he said quietly, in English, as he approached her. “Can I help you?”

She looked over at him, and the scowl on her face instantly disappeared. “You wish to help me?” she asked, seeming amused.

He nodded.

“I would like a drink,” she requested. “I’m very thirsty.”

“We’ll go to a store,” Youngjae promised her. “I will get you a drink. And a… a coat.”

She smiled at him pleasantly. There was something about her at that moment that sent chills down his spine. The way her smile seemed fake and her eyes narrowed at him. She looked predatory. His body told him to run, to flee as quickly as he could, but his mind assured him that this was just a girl. She couldn’t possibly be a threat to him. He took a deep breath and starting walking, gesturing for her to follow him. She did so without another word.

Only a block away from the store, he walked by a dark alley, and he realized his instincts had been right. She pulled him into the darkness, her small frame belying her massive strength, as she pushed him to the ground. Straddling him, she put a hand on his windpipe, cutting off his breath, making it impossible for him to scream. She bent down to whisper into his ear, “You promised to help me. You promised me a drink. And you shall do both.” He watched in horror as she grew fangs. Yes, fangs. And then heard the resounding pop and felt the searing pain as she dug them into his flesh.

Oh God, how he longed to scream for help, but she’d made it impossible for him to breath. She was too strong. He couldn’t fight back. A vampire. She was a vampire. He thrashed in a vain attempt to get away, but his strength failed him as she sucked down his blood. He began to feel faint from the blood loss and the lack of oxygen and the excruciating pain of her teeth buried in his neck, and then he lost consciousness.

-

When he woke up, he felt wrong. Everything hurt. From his head to the tips of his toes, he felt pain. As though he’d been thoroughly destroyed and rebuilt. He recalled his encounter with the blonde vampire, and he supposed, he was either dead and in hell or that he was now a vampire, too. He didn’t know where he was or what time it was. How long had passed since he’d been attacked? His family would start looking for him before too long. He desperately hoped they wouldn’t find him, not if he truly had become a vampire.

“You’re finally awake,” an unfamiliar male voice said to him from the shadows.

His eyes struggled to focus on the source. He tried to sit up and look at him, to ask him what was going on.

“You don’t need to get up. Just rest,” the man said. “I am Yongguk, servant of Countess Mina, as are you. She turned you into a vampire, and she is your master now.”

“I don’t think so,” Youngjae retorted. “Some child isn’t my master.”

“She is no child,” Yongguk warned darkly. “She is the countess of Transylvania.”

“Transylvania? But isn’t that…?”

As if on cue, the blonde girl confidently strode into the room. She was dressed entirely differently than when he’d first seen her. Instead of a t-shirt and jeans, she wore an elegant gown with ornate gold jewelry. Yongguk bowed to her, and she dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

“My child,” she said sweetly to Youngjae, “welcome to your new home. I have granted you the gift of immortality in exchange for your eternal servitude.”

He’d only understood some of her words, not fluent in English, but he’d caught the gist of it. She indeed, thought herself his master. He bristled at the knowledge, upset, and ready to attack her. And he was thirsty. So so very thirsty.

“Calm down,” she said.

He instantly felt calmer, eerily so.

He felt her will wrap around his mind tightly, so tightly it hurt. “You will help me, Second,” she spat at him. “I will feed and shelter you, and you will follow my Orders.”

Youngjae could feel the bond. A heavy weight, chains, that tied him to her. She tugged against the mental connection roughly, leaving him feeling weak. “You are mine now,” she announced in a sing song voice. “You will do everything I say.” She chuckled to herself. “Not like you’d have a choice. You won’t be able to help yourself. My will is your will too. That’s how this works.”

He wanted to be filled with rage at her, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was still under her command to stay calm.

“Sit up,” she ordered.

His body responded immediately, moving to a sitting position, despite how much he didn’t want to listen to her.

She slid herself onto his lap, curling herself comfortably against his chest. She tilted her head up and kissed him. “It is a blessing to be chosen by me. Say, ‘Yes, Countess.’”

“Yes, Countess,” he whispered, still struggling against her authority, her grip on his mind painful.

“Tell me your name.” Another demand sending pain shooting through his mind.

“Youngjae. My name is Youngjae,” he offered quietly. The pain eased then. She must have been pleased with his compliance.

“Youngjae, I’m looking for a person, and I want you to help me find them. That’s why I chose you. Because you wanted to help me.”

“Okay,” he agreed, gasping for air. It hurt so much. She hurt him so much.

She scowled up at him. “You will address me as Countess or Mistress Mina.”

“Yes, Mistress Mina,” he replied, once more feeling the flare of pain and its release upon complying with her demands.

She kissed him again. “You are one of my more beautiful children,” she admitted, seeming pleased with herself. He waited in silence for her to continue. He didn’t want to simply obey her, but his body seemed to cede to her wishes of its volition, and she apparently was causing him pain for showing any amount of reluctance. It was much easier, less painful, to just agree to whatever she wanted. “Say, ‘Thank you, Mistress Mina.’”

“Thank you, Mistress Mina.”

She giggled. “You’re so cute.” Another kiss. She sighed after a moment and stood up off of his lap. She spun around in front of him. “I’m 400 years old, you know?” She looked him directly in the eye.

“You don’t show it, Mistress Mina,” Youngjae said mildly, unsure what she wanted.

“My father was killed 200 years ago. Do you know what it’s like to lose your beloved father? And that murderer killed my sisters, too! They’re all dead because of one man.”

Youngjae urgently tried to decide what to say, not wanting her to reprimand him again. “My condolences, Mistress Mina,” he supplied quickly.

She waved away his sympathy with her hand. “Anyway, after hiding away for a few years, suffering immensely due to the loss of my family, I decided that I wanted revenge. I would remove all traces of that man from the earth. They will all suffer at my hands, just as I’ve suffered at his.” She smiled at him brilliantly, watching him expectantly.

“What must I do to help, Mistress Mina?” he asked quietly, worried about upsetting her. Her presence was somewhat painful, but he’d quickly realized that she was more bearable if she was not upset.

“You will help me find them. Those of the Van Helsing line. And you, my precious child, will help me kill them.”

“Mistress,” he began, “no one uses that name here. It’s a foreign name.”

She patted his head. “That’s why I need your help. You can dig through the records. One of those disgusting Van Helsing family members sought to kill our kind in this region of the world many centuries ago and passed on the genes. I cannot understand your language to decipher the records to find out where that line has gone. The children obviously took a native name and so vanished from history.” She paused to look him deeply in the eye, issuing an Order straight to the core of his being, “You will search for all the Van Helsing spawn with urgency and inform me once they’re found.”

“Yes, Mistress Mina,” he agreed, unable to do anything else against her direct Order.

“Very good.” She turned to leave, humming happily to herself. “Yongguk will take care of you,” she announced, and then she disappeared. “Do not be afraid to ask for what you want.”

Youngjae could feel the Order she’d given him sear into his soul, quickly becoming the only thing he wanted to do. Another pressing want began to build as he realized he was thirsty. He shuddered in horror, aware that he would need to drink blood. There was no need to question that reality.

Yongguk reentered the room cautiously. “Youngjae-ssi, I know you must be thirsty. Please do not hurt me when I return with your… drink.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he assured.

“You are newly made,” the other explained. “Your lust for blood will be strong. Once you smell it, you will lose control of yourself.”

Youngjae nodded glumly. His throat was so dry.

“Don’t be too upset,” he consoled. “Mistress Mina went easy on you. She brought you here first, instead of forcing you to find and kill your first meal on your own. You would have had to otherwise.” He said it sadly, as though he’d experienced that cruel fate himself and as though having been forced to kill had left a deep scar on his consciousness.

Yongguk disappeared momentarily, and when he returned he carried something that smelled so sweet and delicious, Youngjae couldn’t quell his desire for it. He needed it. Yongguk quickly handed him the large beaker of blood. Youngjae felt disgusted as he looked at it, his thirst unbearable as he fought against his desire to taste it. The instinct was not one that could be fought. He was so thirsty and the beaker of blood was the most alluring thing he’d ever smelled, and he brought it to his lips. As soon as the liquid touched his tongue, he experienced an explosion of flavor unlike anything else he’d ever tasted. It soothed his throat, filled his stomach, and he voraciously consumed the contents of the entire beaker.

“More,” he demanded, needing to drink down as much of the delectable liquid as he possibly could. No food had ever tasted as delicious and satisfying.

“Don’t worry,” Yongguk assured him, extending a hand with another full beaker. “I brought plenty.”

Youngjae drank his fill of blood, until his throat no longer felt parched, and he was bloated and his stomach sloshed with each movement he made. Finally sated, he wanted nothing more than to sleep. “Am I allowed to sleep?” Youngjae asked timidly, feeling uncertain after the other vampire had watched him gluttonously indulge on blood.

“You may,” Yongguk assured. “You will find you want to sleep most when the sun is out. It is about 6 AM right now.”

Youngjae settled himself on the slab of rock that was apparently his bed. “Yongguk…”

“Hyung,” he added. “I am older than you.”

“Yongguk hyung… how long ago did I arrive? How many vampires are here? When were you turned?”

Yongguk shook his head. “Go to sleep. You will uncover those answers on your own once you’ve recovered from the process of being transformed.”

“How long?”

With a sigh, the other said, “You’ve been here for about 36 hours. That’s about how long it takes the transformation to take place.”

“When did you arrive?”

“I’ve been here for two years with another vampire. The Countess decided that she needed more servants to carry out her work since we haven’t gotten her the results she wants.”

Youngjae nodded. That was all the information he needed for now, especially when he craved sleep so badly. He also supposed he would now have a very long time to find the answers to his other questions. He settled onto the stone slab he was already resting atop of and let himself succumb to the need for deep sleep brought on by the approaching dawn, hoping that perhaps someday he could have a softer bed.


	4. May 13 (Sora)

May 13, 2022

 “Have a safe trip to your parents,” Sora told her husband over the phone. “I’m sure Ji-eun will be spoiled the whole time.”

Daehyun laughed on the other end. “I’m sure. They can’t resist her cuteness.”

Her husband and daughter were headed to his childhood home in Busan for the weekend, and she was staying home alone, getting a much-needed break after working so hard the last few months. Working while having a young daughter had proved to be a challenging task, not that she would change anything. She loved her family and hoped to expand it soon. She also loved her job. It was exciting to create new skincare products for men and women, and she always found it quite rewarding. However, despite how much she loved both, she needed a break.

“Let me know once you’ve arrived,” she said, “so I don’t worry about you guys too much.”

“I will. I’ll probably message you while we’re on the train too.”

“Good,” she breathed. “Are you sure you have everything that Ji-eun is going to need?”

“Of course,” he assured. “If I forgot something, it’s nothing I can’t live without or go ahead and buy.”

“Okay.”

“Oh,” Daehyun interjected suddenly. “Some foreign girl called the house today and said she knew you. You weren’t around, but she said she’d stop later. I told her it was fine.”

Sora frowned. She wasn’t especially close with anyone from overseas, though she’d met a few people during school. Maybe one of them was back in the country and wanted to say hi. “Did she give you a name?”

“No. It seemed like a joke, to be honest.”

“You’re right. It was probably just some prank,” Sora agreed. “I’m sure it’s fine. If she shows up, I’ll be sure to send her on her way.”

“Sounds good. Let me know if anything weird comes up.”

“I promise. Have a safe trip, Daehyunnie,” Sora said once more.

“I will. Talk to you later, honey. The train is almost here, and I’m going to need both hands with Ji-eunie and the bags.”

“Okay. Talk to you later!” With that, their conversation ended, and Sora tidied up the apartment a bit, and then sat down on the couch. She was unsure what to do with herself now that she was spending a Friday evening all alone. It had been years. Her Friday nights had always either been busy with work outings, or she’d have a date with Daehyun. Both were fun, but it left her a little uncertain about what she should do on her own.

She decided to go out and bring pizza and ice cream home and then sit around to binge watch a drama she’d been meaning to watch but hadn’t had a chance to. She headed to the pizza shop on foot. It was only a couple of blocks away, and she was plenty happy to stretch her legs out as she enjoyed the pleasant May weather. As she waited for the pizza, she went to the convenience store on the other side of the street and bought herself ice cream. Mint chocolate. Her favorite. She headed back to the pizza shop, and then once it was finished she headed home.

She sat the pizza and ice cream down on the counter and pulled her phone out. Daehyun had sent her several messages. Mostly pictures of the scenery and Ji-eun. “She’s been so good the whole time. Quiet and mostly just sleeping,” he praised in his messages.

She was getting ready to reply to him when she heard a knock on the door. She set her phone down to answer it. She saw a blonde teenager accompanied by Korean man she didn’t recognize on the screen at the entrance way. She cracked open the door, wary after her conversation with Daehyun earlier that day. “Miss Sora!” the girl said in English.

“Can I help you?” she asked in Korean. The man translated the conversation for her.

“May we come in?” the Korean man asked. Something about the look on his face suggested that she should say no.

“I would rather you not,” she replied.

The blonde girl frowned. “Oh well,” she said. She pushed the door open and walked inside anyway. “Your husband gave me permission earlier. Youngjae, wait outside. I’ll only be a moment.”

Sora backed away, feeling panicked. She could understand some of what the blonde girl said, but her English was only okay at best. She needed to get her phone. This was wrong. Something about these visitors was wrong. “Please leave,” she nervously demanded.

“No,” the girl said with a devious grin.

Sora realized she was being cornered. The girl cut off her path to her phone and was driving her back into the corner of the room. I can get past her, Sora thought. She’s only a kid.

She gathered her courage to dart by, but it was futile. The girl closed the distance between them, and threw her in the air. She landed on her back with a thud, unable to breathe after the air had been forcefully expelled from her lungs upon landing. The blonde girl straddled her waist then, stroking her face, and smirking at her. Sora could see the fangs in the girl’s mouth. Her pulse raced in horror as she slowly realized what was happening. She had been hunted down by a predator.

“Oh, you’ve realized what I am, have you?” her attacker asked.

She glared up at the vampire.

“You didn’t take your family’s legends seriously, did you? If you had, you might not be in this situation. Though I suppose you’ve got your husband to thank for that. He told me I could stop in when I talked to him earlier.” She said it so demurely, Sora wished she could punch her right in her smug face. However, she was pinned to the ground. She stood no chance.

“Do you want to know why I am here for you, pathetic human?”

Sora shot her assailant a defiant look, finally getting her breath back to retort, “No. Just end it. Kill me.”

“I don’t want to kill you,” she assured in an amused tone. It quickly shifted to a much darker one as she continued, “I want to torture you. I want to cause you exquisite pain. Your distant uncle killed family members that were very important to me, descendant of Van Helsing. And now you will taste my vengeance.”

Sora paled. Van Helsing? The guy who killed Dracula? “I think you’re mistaken.”

“No, I’m not. You have a Van Helsing blade in your possession. Probably buried deep in a closet and long forgotten about. And you will pay for what your distant relatives have done to me.”

At the mention of it, Sora recalled the blade. Something her mother had given her when she’d turned nineteen. It hadn’t seemed like anything special. Just a plain, wooden handled knife with a silvery blade. She didn’t even know if she still had it.

The blonde vampire wasted no more words, and she sank her teeth into Sora’s neck. Sora screamed when she felt the searing pain of her flesh being broken. She struggled against the vampire, but she stood no chance with her fading strength. The vampire did not drain her blood entirely before removing her fangs. Sora, still conscious, lacked the power to move. "Give my servant permission to enter," the vampire whispered into her ear.

"No."

She felt a hand wrap around her throat, choking her, cutting off her supply of oxygen. "Do it. Now. You aren't immortal until you've had my blood."

She was so weak now and her will to fight was fading fast. She nodded, and the attacker released her grip. "Say it."

"He may enter," Sora whispered.

He was instantly in the room, standing next to his much shorter master. "Servant, give me my knife."

"Yes, Mistress Mina," he breathed, extending a short blade for her. She cut her wrist with it, her blood streaming from the wound and dripping on the floor.

Sora kept her mouth tightly closed. That didn't seem to bother Mina. The vampiress simply took the knife and dragged it across her chest, cutting through her clothing and exposing her chest. She then held her open wound against the cut on Sora's chest. “I don’t need you to drink my blood. That way is just easier for you," the vampiress declared arrogantly. She pulled her wrist away and stood up, looking down in satisfaction at Sora, who convulsed on the ground. "Your transformation will be complete in time for the return of your dear husband and daughter. And when they get back, you'll go mad with lust for their blood and drink them both. Your punishment is getting to live forever with that guilt," Mina announced in a sing song voice from what seemed to be very far away.

Her consciousness began to grow fuzzy as Mina's vampire blood seared its way through her bloodstream. The pain was unreal. The last thing she heard before blacking out from the pain was Mina say to the other vampire, "You will stay and watch over her. And try to find her knife."

-

It was dark and cramped when she woke up. Everything was in excruciating pain, and she remembered what had happened. Being attacked, being bit. The dreams of blood and being burned while the transformation occurred. Her throat felt dry and her senses were elevated. She could see well in the dark room she was shoved into. A piece of clothing brushed against her face. She studied it in the dark. This was her dress. She was crammed in the closet. To protect me from the sun, she realized. She could hear someone rustling around outside the closet, rummaging through things.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been unconscious, but she suddenly grew very concerned. She couldn't have Daehyun and Ji-eun return. It was too dangerous. She needed to get to her phone and warn them to not come back home. She quietly opened the closet door, hoping that her overseer was too occupied elsewhere to notice her. He fortunately seemed to be in another room, but she was certain that he'd have heard her move. She rushed to the kitchen and found her phone, right where she'd left it.

It was 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Daehyun would be home that afternoon. She needed to leave so she wasn't home when he got there. Desperately, she typed out, "Do not come home. Take Ji-eun and hide. Vampires attacked-"

"Hey!"

Shit. Her warden had spotted her.

She dropped the phone and darted out the door, running as fast as she could to put as much distance between him and her as possible. He was on her tail, instantly. She wasn't sure how long she ran. The sun was beginning to rise, and she was tired and thirsty. She had gotten outside of the city when he finally did catch her. He wrapped his hand around her arm and scowled, and then he dragged her into an abandoned building. It looked like it had once been some kind of factory. She, weak from the effort of fleeing, collapsed on the ground.

He bent down and picked her up. "Damn," he cursed, "you sure have a lot of stamina for a newly made vampire."

"I can't hurt them," she whispered. "Don't make me go back."

"I can't right now," he stated, seeming kind of amused. "I've got to find a place for us to hide so we don't die today when the sun comes up. Which will be any moment now."

She nodded weakly.

"And then we're going to have to get you blood. I'm surprised you managed to get anywhere without having blood first. Much less be able to outrun me. When I first changed, I couldn't even sit up." He continued carrying her deeper into the abandoned factory building. "I'm Youngjae, by the way. Servant of Mina, Countess of Transylvania. I'm sure you'll meet her again. She's lovely." The last bit of his introduction had dripped with sarcasm.

"You don't like her," Sora noted.

"No one likes her. She’s a bitch that Orders us all around constantly because she knows we can't defy her. Screeching in our heads and inflicting pain on us when we're not catering to her every whim." He turned around a corner, heading down another hallway. "Yeah, this is right," he announced, changing the topic. He further explained, "I've been here before. There should be a room without windows down this hallway."

"I'm Sora," she told him quietly.

“I know who you are, An Sora. But it’s nice to finally meet you in person.” He flung open a door. "This is the one." He slid inside and closed the door behind them, putting Sora down and then sitting down beside her. "We'll both fall asleep soon. The sun being out tends to make us... just knock out instantly."

"Okay."

"I found your knife, by the way," he admitted. "And she didn't Order me to give it to her, so I'm going to give it to you. Keep it safe. Don't cut yourself with it. It's special." He offered it to her, and she accepted it from his hands.

"What's special about it?"

"The Van Helsing blades were apparently forged from a heavenly weapon and dipped in holy water. Like the sword of Michael or something like that according to the legend. The legend also says they can kill evil but won't ever hurt a human."

"How do you know this?" Sora asked, yawning.

"I don’t know that it’s actually true. But I've done a lot of research at Mina's command. Her life is consumed by killing everyone with any trace of Van Helsing blood. I learned some stuff trying to track you and your relatives down."

"You helped her find me?" Sora questioned, resentment beginning to build inside of her.

"I did. I'm sorry. She Ordered it. I can't defy her."

"What do you mean, ‘ordered it’?"

Youngjae sighed. "You'll see for yourself someday. She is our Master. She created us. Her blood flows within us, and so we are a part of her. We act as an extension of her will. So when she tells you to do something, when she gives you an Order, you do it. Not because you want to, but because you have no choice. Your body just... acts, regardless of what your mind wants you to do. But Mina is very… she likes to control your mind too."

"That's awful." She yawned again. “Does it hurt?”

“Of course, it hurts. There’s this mental bond. I don’t really know how to explain it well. You might be able to feel it. It’s worse when she’s around. She just… abuses that connection. She’s loud and grating, and she wants to control your thoughts. She does it on purpose. Causing you pain and then releasing it when you respond how she wants.”

“Like Pavlov’s dog,” Sora interjected.

Youngjae looked at her, confused.

She giggled at him softly. “He was a psychologist. Really famous. Did an experiment proving that rewarding behavior causes a certain response. She’s not doing the exact same thing, but the theory is similar.”

“I think I’ve heard of that,” Youngjae answered. “It feels like it’s been forever since I was in school.”

“Was it?”

“What do you mean?” Youngjae asked for clarification.

“How long ago were you in school?”

“I’ve been a vampire for almost four years,” he explained. “I was changed at 24 years old. So, it’s been about 9 years since I was in school.”

Sora yawned as she nodded her acknowledgement. “I am 31. I guess I’m going to be 31 forever now.” She yawned again, feeling exhausted. “I’m so tired.”

"The sun's up now," Youngjae explained, yawning himself. "We should go to sleep. It’s not worth fighting against the sunlight."

Sora thought that sounded like a good idea. She closed her eyes, and her aching body instantly succumbed to the swirling darkness of sleep.


	5. April 1 (Daehyun)

April 1, 2025

Daehyun’s memories from the last few months were fuzzy. He didn’t remember much of anything besides thirsting for blood and feeling pain. Unending pain. His master flooded his mind with pain. The only reprieve he got was sleeping. And even then, free of his master’s tight grip on him, he was tormented by nightmares. He dreamed of death and killing Ji-eun. He didn’t remember doing it, but his brain supplied the images for him.

Now they stood in the center of the room, his master being lectured. It was his fault, he knew. The pain was just unbearable, and he kept running away, attacking people, drawn to their blood. He barely remembered it. His memories were lost in a haze.  However, if there was one thing Daehyun remembered, it was the blond bitch that stood in front of him. He snarled, filled with hatred for the female vampire. She had killed his wife. She had ordered him and his daughter dead. She was the reason for his suffering, and he wanted nothing more than to rip her heart from her chest and tear her apart limb from limb.

“Youngjae,” she sneered, “control your Third.”

Daehyun felt his master’s will spread through his body, yanking roughly on the mental bond that tied them together and causing an exquisite headache to spread through his brain. He clutched his head and closed his eyes, falling to his knees. At that moment, he hated both of them.

“Mistress Mina…” Youngjae started.

She cut him off. “You disobeyed me.”

“I did not. I killed him,” Youngjae insisted.

“You got emotionally attached to that Van Helsing bitch and saved her husband, and now he’s an out of control vampire. And it’s your problem. I’m not helping you clean up your messes anymore.”

“Yongguk hyung turned Jongup and Junhong. You didn’t have a problem with that,” Youngjae countered.

“I gave him permission to create those Thirds before he did it,” she hissed. Daehyun managed to open up his eyes to glance at his master. Youngjae grimaced, seemingly in pain. She was probably mentally punishing him, much like he was doing to Daehyun. “You defied me.”

“The daughter is gone, and Daehyun is dead,” Youngjae retorted. Guilt filled Daehyun, piling up on top of the pain. He’d done that. He was why she was gone. “I followed your Order.”

“I was lenient when you brought him back, but I can’t overlook the danger he’s putting us in. Our presence must remain a secret. Otherwise the past will repeat itself. If you can’t control him, you will be punished further. Both of you will,” she decreed.

“Yes, Mistress,” he agreed timidly, eyes closed and face knotted in anguish.

“Fix the situation or deal with the consequences. We will not speak of this further,” Mina hissed. She turned and walked away, dress billowing behind her as she strode, calling Yongguk with her. He followed her wordlessly, leaving behind Daehyun, Youngjae, and Himchan.

Himchan shook his head in disappointment. “I did tell you that you needed to control him better,” he said to Youngjae.

Youngjae clenched his first, simultaneously increasing the strength he was using to curl his will around Daehyun’s thoughts. Daehyun gasped. He tried to listen in on the conversation, but his head just hurt so much. It was hard to concentrate with his master drowning him in an ocean of pain. “I’m fucking trying, Himchan,” Youngjae retorted.

Himchan walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “She won’t let us clean up after him anymore. She already gave us the order. If he kills anyone else without permission, it’s on you to cover it up.”

“I know,” Youngjae moodily replied.

“I know why you turned him. I get it. We all have humans that are special to us. He was one of Sora’s special people, and she asked you to protect him, so you did what you could. We all wanted to help Sora. But I don’t think being a vampire suits him. Maybe you should just let him…”

“Die?” Youngjae fumed. The angrier Youngjae got, the more pressure Daehyun felt in his head and the worse his headache got. The pain had become unbearable, and he collapsed to the floor face first. They both turned to look at him when they heard him fall. The pain eased some, and Youngjae vowed, “I will not let him die.”

Himchan shrugged and walked out, leaving Daehyun alone with Youngjae. Youngjae sat down beside him and rearranged him so that he could pull Daehyun’s head into his lap. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly. “Are you hungry?”

“You’re… hurting me,” Daehyun sputtered.

Youngjae looked surprised. “I am?”

“My head hurts so much,” he gasped in response.

His master’s expression softened, and Daehyun could have sworn he looked sad. “I’m sorry, Daehyun.” And then the pressure faded entirely. “I didn’t mean to cause you pain. You heard them, right? You can’t run amok. That’s why I’ve been doing it.”

Daehyun nodded. “I was running away to escape the pain,” he admitted.

“I’m sorry for hurting you. It took everything I had to try to keep you from running off and attacking people. And because I’m so lacking I couldn’t do that, and I was causing you pain, too. I’m just as bad as Mina.” He heaved a sigh, and Daehyun gazed up at him. His master hadn’t really spoken to him before. Not like this. Not with the sad, caring tone he used now. He’d been bossed around and ruled over. Youngjae had been asserting himself as a master. But this was a different. Compassion and concern filled Youngjae’s voice. And despite the pain Daehyun had felt, he had been able to hear the conversation before. “Did you turn me because of Sora?” he asked softly.

“Yes, I did. I don’t know that this is the fate that she wanted for you. She wanted you safe. Beside me is the safest place I could think of.”

Daehyun rested in Youngjae’s lap, feeling a measure of peace because for the first time in his several months as a vampire, Youngjae wasn’t desperately trying to control him. “Did you… love Sora?” Daehyun asked.

“I did,” Youngjae agreed. “She never fully loved me, though. Her heart was always yours. Her thoughts and memories… you were in all of them.”

“How…do you know that?”

Youngjae chuckled. “It’s an ability we have. When we taste the blood of another vampire, we can see memories and thoughts. So I saw you. Many times. And she talked about you and Ji-eun so much. She loved you both until the very end.”

At the mention of Ji-eun, Daehyun felt his throat go dry. Not from thirst, but the sensation of crying. It felt like he was going to cry. “I’ve heard some things, but what happened with Ji-eun?”

Youngjae paused for a moment, looking uncertain, seemingly deciding what to say. “She’s gone,” he said. “It’s best not to talk about it.”

“I’ve heard the other’s say that I brutally killed her. Is that true? Did I kill her? I can’t remember what happened that night.”

Youngjae shook his head, refusing to say more. “She’s gone,” he insisted. Followed by an Order that Daehyun couldn’t defy. “Don’t ask about it again.” The force of the Order left Daehyun stunned and silent. “Ah… I’m sorry,” Youngjae apologized. “I loved her, too, Daehyun. I don’t want to talk about it.”

The guilt then crushed Daehyun. “You should let me die, like Himchan hyung suggested. Then you won’t get in trouble anymore. And I won’t have to live like this. Knowing my precious, beautiful daughter is dead because of me.”

Youngjae bent down and kissed him then, surprising him. He pulled away, uncomfortable with the overly familiar gesture. “I can’t let you die, Daehyun,” Youngjae whispered. “I need a friend. A partner. I need you.”

“I am a burden.”

Youngjae gently brushed Daehyun’s hair away from his forehead. “I promised that I’d protect you. I don’t care if you’re a burden.”

“Why?” He couldn’t understand why Youngjae would so resolutely stand beside him when all he’d done was cause Youngjae problems.

“Honestly, Daehyun,” he admitted warmly, “it’s because I love you. I fell in love with the man I saw in Sora’s memories. Her kind husband who loved her tenderly. The husband she so desperately wanted to have another child with. The man she’d do anything to protect. I didn’t even realize how much her feelings had spread to me until I was sent to kill you.”

Daehyun remained silent, thoughts jumbled. Love? His master loved him?

“I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to be your master. I just want us to be together. I promise I won’t order you around or cause you pain. If I do, tell me. But just promise to stay close to me. Don’t go off by yourself and kill anyone anymore.”

“Okay… Youngjae.” It was the first time he’d said the name aloud, and he found it somewhat comforting.

“Can I kiss you again?” Youngjae questioned quietly.

Daehyun pondered for a moment. Honestly… it hadn’t been so bad. He’d just been surprised initially by the action. Plus, until today, Youngjae had been very intimidating, ruling over him relentlessly. But right now, he felt comfortable. More comfortable than he’d truly felt in a long time. He didn’t have to be afraid of the dark anymore because now he was the monster lurking in the shadows. Daehyun nodded his agreement, and Youngjae’s lips were on his again.

It was a gentle, chaste kiss at first, with Youngjae gently chewing at his lips and running his hands through Daehyun’s hair. Peace flooded Daehyun’s senses, and then it grew to something quite different. Youngjae’s tongue brushed against his lips, almost as though he was asking if he could explore Daehyun’s mouth more intimately. And Daehyun allowed it. Their mouths melded together, and despite their undead bodies remaining at room temperature, he felt hot. The blood in his system surged in response to the contact. Daehyun hadn’t been sexually involved with anyone since Sora had disappeared from his life. Now a vampire himself, kissing like this for the first time in several years, he felt his body ignite with desire. He couldn’t help the moan that escaped his lips.

Youngjae pulled away briefly to whisper. “Daehyun, you can bite me, if you want. I’ll show you…”

Daehyun didn’t bother letting him finish before drawing Youngjae to him and burying his fangs into the other’s neck. The taste of blood flooded his mouth. He’d drank plenty of human blood before, but vampire blood tasted different, he realized. In comparison, it was bland. Like drinking water when he had craved the taste of coffee.  However, as he swallowed the blood in his mouth, a metallic taste hit the back of his throat, and then in his mind, he vividly saw Sora. Sora as a vampire. Sora laughing with Youngjae. Sora begging him to protect Daehyun and Ji-eun. Desperately. She was so desperate to keep them safe. All of a sudden, she was under him, moaning, and the memory felt like it was his own. God, he missed her. He felt and saw every explicit detail Youngjae remembered, up until he came with Sora, and then Daehyun had to pull away from Youngjae’s neck, overwhelmed with lust.

He realized he was hard. The memories he’d seen and Youngjae’s mouth on his had gotten him aroused. He reached to touch himself, wanting to relieve his pent up sexual tension, but Youngjae noticed first and grasped his hand, stopping him. “I’ll do it,” Youngjae announced.

Uncertainly, he let the other continue. He’d never done anything with a man before, so he worried, but more than he worried, he yearned for the contact. He’d seen Youngjae’s memories. If there were one person, one being who could understand him, Youngjae was it.

Youngjae seemed uncertain as he changed his position. Daehyun realized then that he too had never been with another male, and further, that he probably hadn’t been lying about his attraction being based on Sora’s memories of him. He shivered when Youngjae reached for the button of his trousers, sliding them down and brushing his cock. Daehyun responded involuntarily to the incidental touch, jerking his hips forward, seeking more of Youngjae’s touch.

He didn’t have to wait long. Youngjae reached out tentatively, touching him through his boxers. Daehyun groaned, closed his eyes, and bit his lower lip, drawing blood with his fangs. Youngjae slid his boxers down, and then kneeled between his legs before wrapping a hand around his erection. Daehyun gasped when he felt Youngjae’s hand start moving, stroking him. And then suddenly Youngjae took him into his mouth, giving him a sloppy, uncertain blow job, but it felt good all the same. Daehyun tangled his hands in Youngjae’s hair, beginning to thrust into his master’s mouth. Youngjae pulled out of Daehyun’s grasp after a few minutes, letting go of his cock. “I’m sorry if I’m not very good,” Youngjae said looking up at him, cheeks flushed. “I’ve never done it before.”

Daehyun could feel himself pouting. “It’s okay. But please don’t stop,” Daehyun requested after a moment.

Youngjae blinked at him in surprise. “Really?”

“Please, master,” Daehyun whispered timidly. He was embarrassed, but he needed Youngjae to know that he wanted his mouth around him again. He wanted Youngjae to give him release.

With a bit more confidence than he’d had before, Youngjae wrapped his lips around Daehyun’s cock. And this time, he moved more quickly, sucking on him harder, giving him pleasure he hadn’t experienced in years. His hips bucked wildly as he got closer to his climax, savoring the feel of Youngjae’s slick wet mouth around him. He felt Youngjae’s tongue swirl against the underside of his hard cock, and it was too much to handle. He ejaculated into Youngjae’s mouth, cock dancing as he emptied his load, euphoria racing through his entire being. He panted despite not needing to breath, coming down from the high. Youngjae pulled away from him, and he watched the other swallow his semen down, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as he did so.

Youngjae lowered himself so he was lying on top of Daehyun, and he kissed him. Daehyun tasted his own ejaculate on Youngjae’s lips. He’d tasted it on Sora’s before, but somehow, the taste was different now. Maybe it was just that Youngjae tasted different. Or maybe it was because he was a vampire now and everything tasted different. Regardless, he kissed Youngjae in return, biting at the other’s lower lip, lapping up the blood that trickled out.

Youngjae feathered kisses to and along his jawline, thrusting his clothed body against Daehyun’s naked one. “I need to cum, too”, he whispered against Daehyun’s neck.

Daehyun nodded. “You can…” He gulped, realizing what he was going to say. Once he said it, he couldn’t go back. However, he was so in the moment, and it felt so right. He didn’t want to stop now. “You can inside of me,” he finally murmured.

He felt Youngjae reach between them to slide his trousers down just enough to free his upright, swollen dick. It was suddenly pressing against Daehyun’s semi-erect cock. He could feel Youngjae’s pre-cum smearing onto his own member. God, it was erotic. Youngjae hadn’t removed his hand from between their bodies, and then he was touching Daehyun again, running his fingers over his length and fondling his testicles. Daehyun’s cock sprang to life, blood surging at the stimulation, making him hard once more. He was pressing against Youngjae’s erection now, and Youngjae’s lips were on his. This was not how he’d been expecting their first proper conversation to go, but he wouldn’t change it now. It felt too good to stop.

He felt Youngjae slide a finger into his opening, tentatively probing. He found the sensation of being entered strange. It hurt a bit, but it wasn’t unbearable. And then Youngjae brushed against a spot that felt so amazing his vision had blurred. “Ahhhh, there,” he mewled.

Youngjae wordless acknowledged him, sliding in a second finger and curling them within him. Pressing in and out. He was gasping, not because he needed air, but because his body still responded to arousal in the same manner it had when he was human. He was so fucking hard again already, the stimulation of his prostate so pleasurable that he’d been unable to help it. “I’m going to cum, again,” he hissed as he pulled his lips away.

Youngjae frowned at him. “Me first.” And then Youngjae, eased himself into Daehyun. It hurt. Probably not as much as it would have if he were still human. And didn’t they… need lube. Youngjae seemingly had a solution for that issue, because he bit his own finger tips, and snaked his hand between them, dripping blood on himself, making his cock slick. Daehyun felt the difference instantly. Youngjae slid into him more easily, finally filling him up completely.

“You okay?” Youngjae asked lowly, staying motionless.

Daehyun grimaced, still trying to adjust to the feeling. “I will be.”

Youngjae returned to kissing him, thrusting in small movements as he did so. He wrapped a hand around Daehyun’s erection as he did so, and Daehyun didn’t bother fighting back the moan that tore through his throat. “Youngjae,” he murmured, closing his eyes.

Youngjae started thrusting into him then. Daehyun felt like he was going to burst from the sensation. Occasionally, Youngjae bumped against the good spot, and he’d feel his cock twitch with eagerness. He was so very close to his climax. Bracing himself, Youngjae moved his hands to either side of Daehyun’s head, and then powerfully slammed into him. Right there was the spot. “Ahhh… fuck yes,” Daehyun groaned.

“You feel so good,” Youngjae whispered, breathing heavy, as well. He hadn’t slowed down any, driving into him, and then Daehyun couldn’t take it anymore. Youngjae’s thrusts were hitting his prostate, and it felt so good. How had he gone his whole life without this? His muscles began to tremble, and he let out a string of profanities. He groaned as he achieved his climax, blinded by sheer bliss from the pleasure, sticky ejaculate shooting from the tip of his cock and coating both his and Youngjae’s stomachs. As he began to regain his senses after the unfathomably mind-blowing orgasm he’d experienced, he felt Youngjae tense above him. Then he Youngjae came inside of him, his cock frantically pulsing against his already sore prostate as it emptied its load.

Youngjae, spent, rested on top of him and then kissed him on the lips. “Daehyun, thank you.”

“Yes, Master,” he replied, unsure what to say.

“Please don’t call me master. I want to be your friend and partner. Please call me Youngjae.”

“Okay, Youngjae,” Daehyun replied softly.

Youngjae nuzzled into his neck. “I want you to help me kill Mina,” he whispered.

Daehyun’s eyes went wide, and he stared up at the man lying atop him. “What?”

“Today would have been Ji-eun’s birthday, right? April 1st?”

Daehyun nodded glumly in agreement. He didn't want to think about her.

“I can’t outright defy her. But you are outside of her control. When the time is right, will you help me, Daehyun? Will you help me avenge all of us? Sora, Ji-eun, you and me. The other vampires here who offered to help a poor lost girl and got dragged into a 300 year quest for vengeance. Help me fix this,” Youngjae requested, voice barely audible.

Daehyun nodded. He liked the sound of that. It gave him something to live for again. Something to hope for.

“Then stay with me,” Youngjae begged. “Stop losing control of your bloodlust. I’ll try to help you not attack people. But please try not to fight me. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to be Mina. So please just stay with me.”

“I will not leave you, Youngjae,” Daehyun promised. “You’re all I have left.”

Youngjae nodded. With that he removed himself from Daehyun, standing up and readjusting his clothing. Daehyun dressed himself, as well, feeling somewhat sore, but his vampire body was already healing itself. He could now feel his bond with Youngjae in a brand-new way. Before it had been oppressive. A master ruling over his slave. But now… Daehyun could feel that it changed. Youngjae was allowing him to think on his own. The bond felt… pleasant now. A source of peace. More than anything, he wanted to stay next to Youngjae. His master was his only friend left. A companion and lover too, it seemed. And if they ultimately were able to kill Mina in the process, then staying with Youngjae would be worth it.


	6. December 24 (Youngjae)

December 24. 2024

Youngjae woke up first that evening, Sora sleeping beside him, their nude bodies covered by a blanket that they didn’t really need. He’d found that there were many human habits that just simply couldn’t be shaken, and cuddling under a blanket was definitely one of them. He rolled toward her, putting an arm around her waist. The two and a half years he’d spent with her had almost been worth being turned into a vampire. He still wished he were human, but Sora had made it bearable.

“Youngjae,” she groaned, “please don’t touch me.”

Confused at first, he then remembered that it was Christmas Eve. He rolled away. “Do you miss them?”

She sighed. “So much. I hope Ji-eun is having a good Christmas with Daehyun. I wish I could see them both.”

“It’s safer for them if you stay away.”

“I found where they live,” Sora admitted. “I’ve been watching them from a distance.”

“You shouldn’t do that,” Youngjae admonished. “You’re putting them in danger.”

“I know. But I miss them, Youngjae. I can’t stay away from them.”

Youngjae nodded. He was well aware of how much she missed them. “If Yongguk or Himchan find out, they’ll tell Mina. They are more obedient than you or I.”

“They still hate her,” Sora added. “Just as much as we do.”

“Yes, but they are more afraid of her than either of us. They’d tell her immediately out of fear of retaliation.”

Sora sighed. “I can’t really blame them for that. It’s painful when she’s angry.”

There was a knock at the door, and they both jumped. Neither had expected it as there was never a set time to wake up. Everyone simply got up on their own when they felt like it. “Sora noona. Youngjae hyung.” It was one of Yongguk’s offspring, Jongup. He had created Thirds to help them search for others of Van Helsing lineage. They had nearly completed their task in Korea. Only four remained, one of which being Sora’s daughter. Youngjae shuddered at the thought. Someone would be sent for Ji-eun eventually, and that would be a tough day for Sora. A tough day for all of them.

“Yes?” Sora called after a moment.

“Yongguk hyung wanted me to inform you that Mistress Mina will be visiting today.”

Dread raced through Youngjae. She had largely left them alone after Sora had been turned. She’d returned to her underground palace in Transylvania, leaving them with instructions to eradicate as many of the Van Helsings as they could find. Her return felt like an ill omen. Youngjae innately knew that something bad was going to happen.

“Thank you, Jongup,” Sora replied, her voice wavering.

They heard him trudge away from the door, and Sora stood up. “You’re covered in blood,” Youngjae told her. “You should wash up.”

She simply stared into the distance, ignoring him. He frowned and got out of bed, as well. He walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her shoulder, and when she rolled her head to the side, he dug his fangs into her skin. She wanted him to see her memories. He saw Ji-eun huddled next to Daehyun as he read to her. He could feel Sora’s tremendous love for both of them in that memory. He could feel her will to protect them. He knew how desperate she was to keep them safe. She’d run kilometers as a newborn to flee her old home in order to keep them safe. “I can’t let Mina hurt them,” she said to him. “And I know that’s why she’s here.”

Youngjae removed his fangs from her shoulder. “I think so, too.”

“We should kill her,” Sora suggested. “If she’s dead, they’ll be safe.”

“If you stabbed her with your knife in a vital area, she’d probably die,” Youngjae stated. “We know how it works now.”

Sora nodded. “I will keep it with me in case there’s a chance.”

The Van Helsing blade, they’d discovered, was quite special, indeed. It had proven a useful tool for drinking blood without harming humans. Any cut would heal within minutes, leaving no trace of damage, but in the time it took to close, he and Sora would drink the blood of their victim. They never drank enough to kill the human, and with Youngjae having honed his hypnotic abilities, he could make them weak and compliant with only a few actions and words. He’d tell them to sleep, and they’d pass out. Then, they took their knife, and cut the skin, drinking the blood that flowed from the wound before the skin sealed closed.

As little damage as the knife did to humans, it was monstrously effective against vampires. Sora had cut her hand on accident once, and the wound had festered for days, never healing properly, and leaving a massive scar across her palm. A similar wound from a regular weapon would have healed with within minutes, leaving no trace. That the blade had left a scar had served as proof enough for them that the blade was, in fact, as legendary as the legends stated. It would not harm a human, but it would protect humans from evil. Evil like vampires. And that meant it could kill Mina.

Somberly, she pulled out of his arms and went to wash herself off. Youngjae considered joining her in the shower, but thought better of it. She had her family on her mind right now, as she’d told him earlier. She didn’t want touched or distracted. It was a holiday, and she was nostalgic, and now with Mina visiting, she was worried for their safety. She wouldn’t like him intruding on her space when she obviously desperately needed it, so he simply waited his turn.

While he waited, Youngjae thought about her family. Ji-eun, her cute daughter. Daehyun, her strong and reliable husband. He’d seen so much of them these last two years that he thought of them fondly, as though they were part of his own family. His thoughts then turned to his biological family. His mother and father and brother. He’d never sought them out after being turned, wishing to keep his distance to keep them safe, too. He didn’t even have to worry about his family’s safety to the same degree as Sora, as his family members weren’t descendants of the Van Helsing bloodline. However, he could never be sure what Mina might make him do, so he kept his distance to ensure their safety.

Sora returned, dressing in a low-cut long-sleeved dress and heels, and Youngjae went to clean himself up, as well. He showered quickly and dressed quickly, putting on a nice outfit because he knew Mina would expect them to look decent in her presence. He scowled as he pulled on a blazer. Ready to greet Mina, he and Sora walked through the halls of the underground home until they arrived at the main dining area. Youngjae could feel the tension rolling off of Sora in waves. She was anxious, awaiting what was sure to be bad news.

They walked into the dining room to find Yongguk and HImchan busily cleaning and decorating, both well aware of Mina’s taste for extravagance. They were dressed nicely, as well. She’d want it to be pristine when she arrived and decorated as though her presence was something to be celebrated. The truth was that none of them wanted her there, but Yongguk and Himchan would put on a good show to convince her that she was welcome. Youngjae would be on his best behavior, being at the very least cordial. And Sora… Sora would refuse to speak to her as much as possible.

Yongguk called them over. “Mina will be here shortly. She didn’t give us much notice.”

“Yes, hyung,” Youngjae acknowledged.

“Can you make sure Jongup and Junhong are preparing the blood properly? I don’t have time to oversee them, and Mina will be upset if the presentation is not to her liking.” Yongguk, who age-wise was the oldest, had been given responsibility for taking care of the facility as he was Mina’s favorite Korean spawn. Youngjae had never asked why, nor did he really care. Yongguk had always been her favorite ever since he’d arrived.

Youngjae walked off to do just that, leaving Sora behind. He hoped she’d be okay without him for a bit. She was already very anxious. He checked in on the younger vampires. Yongguk had trained them well, it seems, because they had done everything properly. For Thirds, they were well behaved. Youngjae had always found the classification absurd, but it was there for a reason. The further you got away from the Original vampire, the more bloodlust and animal qualities a vampire exhibited. He and the other Seconds had pretty good control of themselves. Mina, a First generation vampire, had excellent control, which was part of why she was so scary. He didn’t want to imagine what her father, Dracula, had been like. He’d been a Zero generation, turned by the Original. He must have been very cunning. He’d lived for thousands of years in the shadows, only falling when his children started creating their own progeny.  Thirds and below lacked much self-control, and often had to rely on their masters to keep them in line. When the offspring proved difficult to control, it led to a spike in attack on humans, and ultimately, the humans’ quest to kill every vampire they could find.

Youngjae knew that the Van Helsing family, the bloodline Mina sought to destroy, was responsible for humanity’s victory. With their legendary blades, they had driven back the scourge, killing countless vampires, ensuring the safety of humanity. Obviously though, they hadn’t killed enough. Life would be so much better if only they’d killed Mina those 350 years ago.

He felt her then. The beginning of a headache formed behind his temple, indicating that she was indeed nearby. Yongguk rushed to answer the door, while he, Himchan, and Sora followed behind him in order to greet her. Sora looked over at him with wide panicked eyes. She mouthed something at him. I forgot the knife. Then today would not be the day that Mina died. Too bad, but he figured they needed more of a plan anyway. It was unlikely that she’d just be able to walk up and stab Mina and that would be the end of things.

Yongguk held opened the door for her, snow blowing into the entrance as she entered, and as he closed it behind her, she turned to kiss him. It would be a White Christmas, Youngjae realized, thinking of Sora’s family and hoping they’d at least get to enjoy it. Maybe Daehyun would take Ji-eun sledding after opening gifts. A searing pain burned the thoughts away as Mina demanded a kiss from him. She kissed Himchan, as well, leaving Sora standing in the middle untouched.

“My children,” she cooed. “Let us celebrate Christmas together!”

Youngjae found it absurd that she’d want to celebrate such a thing at all. In Korea, it was a romantic holiday more than religious, but that certainly wasn’t a part of Mina’s reasons. Vampires couldn’t really handle religious things, as the presences of crosses felt extremely uncomfortable, and holy water certainly burned. The notion that they’d celebrate a day with such strongly religious ties was ridiculous. However, that seemingly wasn’t stopping Mina.

They went to sit down at the table, Sora glaring at Mina the whole time and occasionally wincing. An eerie silence fell over them. No one chatted because no one wanted to upset Mina, and she spent most of her time talking about herself. Jongup and Junhong served them blood, making sure their cups never went empty. They drank  in silence, pretending to care about what Mina said and hoping that she’d leave quickly. Mina, appetite sated, put down her chalice, and the she asked if they’d made any progress on their mission. “We are nearly done, Mistress Mina,” Himchan answered.

“Good. How many remain?” Her eyes flicked toward Sora, and Youngjae had to fight back the protective snarl that formed in his throat. Mina’s eyes met his, and he looked away. He didn’t want Mina to know he had feelings for Sora.

“As far as we can tell, there are a total of four left,” Yongguk replied.

She smiled pleasantly then. “You’ve done well, my children. Do you know where to find them all?”

Yongguk shook his head. “We can’t find one of them.” He glanced at Sora and within seconds his face contorted in pain. He was trying to cover for Sora, but Mina was having none of that.

“Are you sure you can’t find that one?” Mina questioned, irritated.

Yongguk gasped. “I can’t locate her,” he sputtered. Youngjae could feel his own head throbbing from the abuse Mina was putting Yongguk through.

She turned to Sora then, smiling deviously. “I bet you know where she is. Your precious daughter.”

Mina stood up, silently stalking behind them. “All of you will go out tonight. And you will kill the remaining Van Helsings as a Christmas gift to me.”

Youngjae glanced over at Sora, who looked ready to lunge for Mina’s throat at any second. “I will assign everyone a victim.” She started with Yongguk, sitting on his lap, and kissing him. She asked him for their names, and then she whispered into his ear. He nodded his understanding. She did the same with Himchan. Then she got to Youngjae. He stared up at her with wide eyes as she approached. She sat herself in his lap comfortably before kissing him. She kissed him longer than she’d kissed the other two, entwining her fingers in his hair, pulling him towards her. She pulled away to whisper in his ear, her lips brushing against his skin, “Don’t think I missed the looks you gave her. Remember that you belong to me.” She licked his earlobe, and involuntarily he shuddered. “Ohh… you liked that, did you? Wouldn’t it be fun if I had my way with you, right here in front of her?”

“Mistress Mina,” he gasped out, flustered and trying to diffuse the situation, “who is my assignment?”

She stayed in his lap, first looking over at Sora. “Do you love him, Van Helsing bitch?” she questioned.

With a steely gaze, Sora shook her head no. “I do not love him,” she retorted bitterly. It stung to hear her say it, but Youngjae knew she was trying to protect him. To save him from Mina’s wrath.

“Then who’s been leaving teeth marks all over him?” she asked, feigning innocence. “And on you, too? I can see the marks on your chest. Some of them look fresh.”

Sora refused to meet her eyes. “Look at me,” Mina Ordered. They all did so, unable to help themselves. “An Sora,” she continued, “you will go and kill your daughter tonight. And while you’re at it, kill your husband, as well. And when you’re done, so I know you did it correctly, you can bring me back their heads.”

Youngjae saw her eyes go wide in panic. She cried out as she fought against Mina’s control, but the Order was powerful. She couldn’t fight it. Youngjae felt terrible for her, and he himself wished that he could spare her from her cruel fate and also that he could somehow save her daughter and husband. He didn’t have much time to think about that because Mina turned her attention to him. “Youngjae,” she breathed. “You will never touch her again.” He grimaced at the weight of the Order she’d given him. She leaned down and whispered a name to him. The final Korean descendant of Van Helsing.

She stood up from his lap. “Go, children. Change into something more decent for hunting, and give me my long-awaited gift.” She sat back down in her chair and watched them as they departed to do her bidding.

Sora was crying without shedding tears, shouting “NO!” repeatedly the entire way back to the room she shared with Youngjae. He wanted to hold her, to tell her it would be okay, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t will his body to defy Mina’s wishes.

“Sora,” he called quietly as soon as they’d returned.

“Please kill me,” she begged. “Please. I can’t hurt them.”

“I can’t touch you,” he said regretfully. “And if you don’t do it, someone else will be given the task to kill them.”

“I can’t do it. Kill me. Just… save them, Youngjae. Please.”

“Sora… I…”

She reached out to touch his cheek, and his body recoiled from her touch. “I can’t defy her order outright, Youngjae. If you can’t kill me, I can do it myself.” She picked up the knife, and Youngjae wanted to reach out to stop her, but he couldn’t. She shook her head. “Not like this. I want you to have this blade, Youngjae. Stay alive and protect my family. Save them. And someday, give the blade to my daughter when she’s old enough to understand its legacy.”

They were both changing into non-descript clothes. Clothes that wouldn’t attract attention. Youngjae was unable to take the knife from Sora’s hand, so she tucked it into his jacket pocket. He sighed. “Don’t leave me,” he begged.

“The only way I can protect them now is to die, Youngjae. You won’t ever see me again.”

“There has to be another way,” Youngjae insisted. “We could kill Mina. Right now.”

“You can feel the Order she gave us. There is no way to delay it or do anything else outside of her wishes. We can’t kill her, Youngjae. You and I can do nothing else until our missions are complete.”

Youngjae hung his head, defeated. “I love you,” he whispered. “I’ll miss you.”

“I have appreciated your love these past few years, and I’ve grown so fond of you.”

“You never loved me as much as Daehyun,” Youngjae said, “and that’s okay. He’s still your husband, after all. It wasn’t like you left him because you wanted to. I’m still glad that we got to meet. I’m glad that I had the chance to love you.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t ever properly return your feelings, Youngjae,” she said, stepping out to caress his cheek, but he simply shook his head. It would be better if she didn’t. “Take care of my family for me. I know you love them, too.”

“I will keep them safe,” he promised finally, feeling the weight of their conversation settle heavily on his chest.

She stepped to him and kissed him, and then she turned and walked away slowly and steadily. “Goodbye, Youngjae,” she said quietly. “And I did love you, too.”

Youngjae couldn’t bring himself to watch her walk away. He heard the door to the room close, and then his eyes stung, and his throat felt dry and scratchy. He wasn’t ever going to see her again. Without the knife, there could only be one way she was planning on killing herself. She would walk slowly and calmly towards Daehyun and Ji-eun, complying with the Order that drove her body. And even as the sun rose, she would keep walking. She would walk until she burned to death. Losing Sora was more than he could handle, and more than anything, he wished he could stop her.

He wished there was a way that he could fix the situation. But there wasn’t. There was nothing he could do. His body was compelled by Mina’s Order, and slowly, he finished dressing in jeans and a sweater. Youngjae, upset and crying in the tearless way of a vampire, hurried off to complete his task. As he made his way to kill his assigned Van Helsing decendant, he vowed he would protect Sora’s family and keep his last promise to her. And he would, without fail, make sure that Mina, Countess of Transylvania and daughter of Dracula, received the death she deserved. It didn’t matter how. It didn’t matter when. He would avenge Sora’s death. He would avenge all of the lives lost and ruined due to Mina’s pursuit for vengeance. His life. Sora. Yongguk. Himchan. Jongup and Junhong. The middle-aged man he would kill this evening. All the others he’d killed for Mina and their remaining families who had to deal with the grief.  Ji-eun. Daehyun. All of them would some day be avenged.


	7. July 6

Monday, July 6, 2043

She stared at the nametag. Her picture smiled back at her, and her name, Joy Baker, written out in both English and Hangul. She’d been extremely thrilled for the opportunity, especially right after graduating from college. As an adopted Korean American, she had longed to return to Korea. She wanted to see her home country. So when she’d gotten an offer as a translator for a mid-sized company in Seoul, she’d immediately taken the job. Her adoptive parents had tried to talk her out of it, worried that something bad would happen if she left the country. But her heart had been set. She longed to return to her first home. Still, as soon as she’d gotten here and settled into her apartment, she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that something bad actually was going to happen. Everything felt eerily out of place.

She let go of her nametag, letting it drop to her chest. She sighed.

If she were being truly honest with herself, she was mainly here because she wanted to have a chance to track down her living relatives. She was sure that she had grandparents still, and now she was old enough to be granted access to any court documents that may have information on her parents’ identities. She certainly didn’t remember her mother or father’s names, too young to have known them as anything other than eomma and appa. But she did remember her own given name. Jung Ji-eun. She had been given a new name by her adoptive parents when she’d moved to the United States, and she didn’t miss her old name, but she still remembered it.

She also remembered certain aspects of her father vividly. Sharing a bed with him at four years old because the night was just so terrifying. Him covering the walls with crosses and strange runes and always having some kind of weapon on him. Locking the doors and never being outside in the dark. She never asked her father why he behaved like he did because, even as a child, she knew it had to do with her mother’s death. Her father was a mystery, but at least she remembered him. She couldn’t say the same for her biological mother. She couldn’t remember her.

She cleared her thoughts, refocusing her attention back on the orientation class she was sitting in. They were solidly in the middle of the part regarding benefits for employees, close to the end of the presentation, thankfully. She leafed through the packet they’d given her. It all seemed pretty standard. All of the new employees went for lunch together after that. None of them were in her section, so she didn’t bother talking to them much. She would likely never see them again after this. Afterwards, they went around to the various sections, dropping off new employees with their work groups.

She was last, the orientation presenter dropping her off with her new manager. The man, Kim Minhyuk, introduced her to her fellow employees and showed her to her desk, explaining he’d send an IT guy her way to get her account set up. She was settling into her desk when she heard a man say, “Excuse me.” She glanced behind her to see a young man around her age.

“I’m Yeo Taekhyun,” he said cordially, though quietly.

“Joy Baker,” she said.

“Minhyuk-hyung asked me to help you get adjusted. You can ask for help if you need it. I’ll try to accommodate.”

“How old are you, Taekhyun-ssi?” she asked, curious.

“I’m 23,” he replied.

“Same as me.”

“So we’re friends then,” he said with a gentle smile. “I hope we get along well, Joy-ssi.”

She nodded, and he headed off on his way. As the day got closer to finishing, he stopped back in to ask her how she was doing. He also said that they would be going out for drinks after work, so she should come along. Joy nodded. She was well aware of the drinking culture, though she knew she could say no if she really wanted to. Everyone would be more understanding since she’d lived in the U.S. for most of her life. However, she wanted to make a good impression on her first day, so she would go.

When it was finally time to go for the day, her boss had them all get together to briefly discuss what had been accomplished for the day and to help plan what projects they were going to try to knock out the following day. He’d given her a simple translation job. “Taekhyun will check your work once you’re done.”

She’d nodded, and then the day was finished. They headed off to a bar nearby, easily within walking distance even with heels on. She hadn’t been sure what to expect on her first day, but fortunately, her coworkers were friendly and the job didn’t seem to be overwhelming. When they’d arrived at the bar, they’d all asked her questions about the US, and she happily chatted with them as they took shot after shot of soju.

“I should really stop now. I’m not used to drinking so much,” she said eventually. She felt tipsy already, and she still needed to make her way back to her apartment. She wasn’t super familiar with the city yet, so she needed to be as sober as possible.

Her boss smiled at her kindly. “You’ll adjust before long. After translating documents all day, it’s nice to blow off some steam.”

She nodded before glancing at her watch. 9:00 pm. It wasn’t really that late. The bar was pretty busy now, but she really needed to get home before it got too late. She still, years later, felt a little anxious in the dark. Her adoptive parents had gotten her therapy to help her adjust, but the fear still lingered. Her biological father’s extreme phobia of the dark had permanently affected her psyche. So she was a little scared about having to make her way home in the dark in a new and unfamiliar city.

A waiter walked to their table to check to see how they were doing. “Ah… a new employee, huh?” he commented casually. She craned her neck around to look at him. He had a pleasant smile plastered across his face. Her eyes met his, and she swore she’d seen him somewhere before.

“Yep, Youngjae,” one of her coworkers replied. “This is Joy. She just started today.”

He smiled. “Joy? Well, I hope you’ll come by with them regularly. They’re my favorite patrons,” he said, his smile faltering ever so slightly, and she wondered if anyone else had noticed. He recovered his expression quickly, winking at her before heading off on his way. She stared after him, intrigued. Who was this man?

“I think he likes you,” one of her female coworkers cooed.

She shook her head in denial. "I don't think so," she answered.

"Then you like him?" she asked.

She shook her head again. "No. But I think I've seen him before." Besides if she liked anyone out of the people she’d met today, she’d be most interested in Taekhyun.

They stayed only a few moments after that. “Do you need any help getting home?” Taekhyun asked.

She didn’t want to impose, so she said, “No, I’ll be okay. Thanks for the offer.”

He nodded in understanding. While she did find him attractive, she wasn’t about to start an office romance. It was a bad idea overall. “Well, Joy-ssi, let me know if you need anything. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned and headed out, leaving her standing with only some of the older ladies.

“Come on Joy-ssi,” one of them stated, “let’s head on home.”

“Ahh, I need to go to the bathroom first. You can go on without me. I’m sure I’ll be okay.” She honestly wasn’t sure that she would be okay, but she didn’t want to bother them. Also, she wanted time to herself to try to ponder out exactly why Youngjae’s face looked so familiar. She headed to the bathroom, and as she was washing her hands, the waiter, Youngjae, entered the restroom.

"Wh... what are you doing? This is the ladies room," Joy stuttered.

He walked up to her, standing uncomfortably close, dipping his head to press the tip of his nose against her neck. She felt a shiver run down her spine, afraid by his very predatory demeanor. She heard him take a deep breath, and then he moved so he could lock his narrowed eyes on hers. "You shouldn't be here," he stated angrily.

"I'm... I'm a customer," she defended.

"In Korea. You need to go home," he clarified.

"Why?" she asked, frightened.

It took him a moment to answer, his gaze boring deeply into her. She wanted to run away. To shrink into nothingness. He was so intimidating and so much different from his demeanor before. "It's dangerous for you," he whispered darkly, stressing every word. “You aren’t safe here.”

Without a second thought, she ran away from him, sliding past him and darting out the door of the bar. She was afraid that he'd follow her, even more scared of his prediction that it was dangerous for her to be here. She wasn't familiar with the subway system, but it offered her light, and at the moment, the comforting presence of strangers. She went two stops too far and had to turn around, but eventually, she made it to her apartment safely. She locked the door behind her, fastening the dead bolt, latching the chain. Paranoid, she checked that all the windows were locked, too.

Shakily, she took a shower, trying to figure out what he might have meant. Trying to place his face in her now very hazy memory of her childhood. She couldn’t focus, and as she attempted to shave her legs, she cut herself, red blood washing off her skin and flowing down the drain. Blood…

Youngjae… Why was his face so familiar?

She finished her shower, cleaning up the still bleeding wound after drying herself. She went to bed, but she knew she was not going to sleep. She was far too nervous to relax. Her second day of work was not going to be pleasant in the morning, and it would be even less pleasant if she had to go out with her coworkers again. If she had to meet Youngjae again. She frowned and pulled the comforter to her chin, wishing that she had someone to tell her that everything would be alright. Her father’s voice echoed in her head, “It’s okay,” she recalled him saying. “I’ll protect you.” With a deep breath and recalling the few vague memories of her father that she could, she finally managed to drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now there is one questioned answered. Ji-eun is alive! Stay tuned to find out how and why!


	8. January 3 (Youngjae)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Advance warning: This chapter has some content that could upset some people. But we are dealing with vampires here.

January 3, 2025

Unsurprisingly, Mina had been irate when she discovered that Sora had killed herself instead of carrying out her mission. She’s thrown a tantrum, barricading herself in a room and not speaking to anyone for over a week except to demand blood be brought to her. He was still reeling from Sora’s death, feeling the loss profoundly and desperately trying to devise how he was going to get Daehyun and Ji-eun to safety. His ability to move around was limited with Mina around. She’d want him followed if he left without permission.

He was just getting dressed after a shower when Himchan came for him. “Mina wants to see you,” he explained.

He gulped. He could see where this was headed. And he wasn’t surprised when he saw Mina, the first thing she did was Order that he, “Kill the husband, and the make that Van Helsing spawn disappear.”

Though he’d been expecting the task to fall to him, a way for Mina to exert her authority over him after he'd been involved with Sora, Youngjae felt like he was going to cry. He had shared Sora’s memories, felt her love for her family deeply and passionately. He thought fondly of her human husband, and he loved her daughter. He wanted to protect them. More than anything, he didn’t want to hurt them. He couldn’t betray Sora like that. He couldn’t. There had to be a way to rescue them.

He wracked his brain searching for answers as his body began to dutifully carry out its mission. He knew where Daehyun and Ji-eun lived, the address for the apartment something he’d learned Sora. By car, Youngjae could make it there in about two hours, and he fought his body for control, trying to resist the order more strongly than he’d ever resisted anything before. It was futile.

“I can’t kill them,” he cried. “I can’t. Sora, I’m so sorry.”

He realized he’d probably sound crazy if anyone overheard him. But fortunately, he was by himself. He thought about killing himself, as Sora had. But that wouldn’t save them, he realized. It just meant someone else would carry out the task instead. “There has to be a loophole in the command.” He mumbled to himself. If he could find a way to subvert the Order… To follow it to the letter but not the meaning, just like he had when he’d found the knife and given it to Sora. The knife he now carried in his coat.

“Kill Daehyun… Make Ji-eun disappear?”

He drove down the street, following the map on his phone. He needed an answer fast. “I can’t kill the two that Sora loved. That… I love. I love them, huh?”

In an instant, he came up with a plan. Perhaps not the best, but it would do. He could assure Daehyun’s safety, at least. And Ji-eun… the cute child he could see from Sora’s residual memories, she would stand a chance. A fleeting hope of survival. With renewed resolve, he headed to the Jung residence more quickly than he’d been going before. It would be best to just get this over with, and he was likely going to need as much time as possible to carry out his plan successfully.

He arrived at the address, dismayed to see it was an apartment building because it meant he’d have to obtain permission to enter it before he could even find Daehyun. Fortunately, a quick search on his phone yielded the phone number for the building, and he called the main desk, feeling antsy as the ringing continued for nearly a minute. Someone answered eventually, breath short as they’d seemingly run to answer and apologetic.

“I’m here to visit a friend,” Youngjae lied. “He’s not answering his phone. Do you think you could let me in?”

“Sure. Are you outside?”

“I’m waiting in my car.”

“I’ll unlock the door when I see you on the video. Just come on in.”

He sighed in relief, happy to have easily received permission to enter. “Thanks. I’m headed in now,” he told the attendant, and then hung up the phone. He climbed out of his car, slid his keys into his coat pocket, and checked to make sure the knife was still in the pocket he’d placed it in, before pulling the hood of the coat he didn’t need up to cover his face. He nodded to the attendant as he walked by her, exuding confidence he didn’t actually feel. He located Daehyun’s apartment number, room 310, and made his way there. How did he do this? He couldn’t just enter the apartment without permission, despite having access to the building. He was in luck. He saw Daehyun walking down the hall from the other side, having apparently gone to visit a neighbor in another apartment. Though he’d immediately recognized the man from a distance, he realized as he got closer that Daehyun looked much older now than he had in Sora’s memories. She hadn’t seen him face to face in over two years, and Youngjae imagined that those two years had been stressful on his mortal body.

Daehyun eyed him warily upon approach. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“Uh…” Youngjae hadn’t thought this through. “Sorry… trying to find where I’m going,” he lied.

“Oh. What room are you looking for?” Daehyun seemed to relax a bit after the very normal request.

“410.”

“One more floor up,” Daehyun offered.

“Thanks,” Youngjae said as he turned around, pretending to leave, waiting to hear the door click open. He heard Daehyun turn the handle, and then he pounced, immediately sinking his fangs into Daehyun’s neck, piercing the other’s flesh with his teeth and drinking down delicious, fresh blood. He put a hand over Daehyun’s mouth, muffling his shouts and cries for help, holding him still with an iron grip. He held the man tightly against his chest until he stopped struggling. When he slumped forward, Youngjae pulled away from his victim’s neck. “I’m so sorry, Daehyun,” he whispered, licking the blood off his lips. “This is the only way I can help you.” He brought his hand to his mouth, and bit down, drawing his own blood, before he held his hand over Daehyun’s mouth, making sure Daehyun swallowed some of his blood. With this, his vampire blood would bind to Daehyun’s, forcing his cells to undergo a transformation. He would become a vampire. As Ordered, Daehyun, the human, had been killed.

He pushed the other into the apartment, letting him collapse into a heap on the floor. Unceremonious, but he needed to get to Ji-eun. “Ji-eun!” he called, wiping away the blood running down his chin. “Please let me in.” She was four. Old enough to answer him.

“Appa?” she called in return. She walked into the living area, saw him at the doorway and then saw her father, lying on the floor. “No! Nooo! Appa! You hurt Appa?” she accused.

“I’m saving you both,” he told her. “I…” he felt bad lying to child, but he needed her to trust him, “I stopped his attacker, but it was already too late. Your father is dead. The person who did it will come back for you, too. So please let me in, and I’ll save you.”

“Appa is… dead? Like my eomma? I’ll never see him again?”

Youngjae felt a pang of regret. “No, you’ll never see him again.” He watched her, troubled that someone so young, just a child, had already experienced the loss of both her parents. He pitied her and wished there was a way she could have been spared from this tragedy, and Youngjae couldn’t help wondering, for the first time in a long time, how his parents had handled his disappearance when he’d been turned into a vampire six years ago. “Can I come in? Please?” he continued.

“Appa said never to let anyone in,” she said, tears streaming down her face while she eyed him warily.

“I was your eomma’s friend, and she wanted me to protect you. So please let me do that.”

“Okay,” the young girl agreed, wiping her tears with the backs of her hands.

He rushed into the apartment after receiving her permission and closed and locked the door behind him. He scooped Ji-eun into his arms, and ran to find a window, any window at all to escape through. There was only one, leading to an emergency staircase right outside of what had obviously been Daehyun’s bedroom. She clung to him, shaking and crying as he ran to his car.

He placed her in the back seat, buckling her in, and then he climbed in to drive to the home of an acquaintance. The man was the shadiest person he’d ever met, and he wouldn’t say they were friends. They’d met a few times due to overlapping friend circles when he was human. If anyone knew of underground channels to get a child out of the country quickly, it was him.

The drive took him an hour south of Seoul. At some point, Ji-eun had stopped crying and fallen asleep in the back seat, something he was glad about. He also realized that she was probably freezing. The cold didn’t bother him any, but she was human, a child, and it was January. He mentally scolded himself for forgetting to get her a coat and turned the heat up. He arrived and locked the child in the car so he could go talk to the man alone. He didn’t even remember his name, and he didn’t really think he needed to. “What do you want?” the man gruffly asked as he answered the door.

“I need to get a child out of the country. Fast.”

“That’ll cost ya,” he said.

“Can you do it?” Youngjae questioned firmly.

“Of course, I can do it. Put the kid at the right kind of adoption agency, and they’ll be out of here within days.”

“Hours would be preferable.”

“Could take some persuasion to get that to happen, but if you’re willing to pay, I’ll make it happen.”

“I don’t have much cash, but how about a new car?” Youngjae offered. It was the only thing he had that was his to give away. He had no money.

The man raised his eyebrows and looked the car over. It wasn’t an especially flashy car, but it was still a nice vehicle. If nothing else, it could be sold for a decent profit. “You serious?”

“I’ll transfer it to you. It’ll be yours. You can take it, and I’ll just walk away right now. Just promise to get the girl out of here tomorrow.”

“It’s a deal.”

They shook hands in agreement, and Youngjae handed over the keys. He looked in at Ji-eun. She was still sleeping, peaceful expression belying what he knew had to be very tumultuous feelings. Perhaps she was even having nightmares. She had seen her father dead, after all. No mother. Now no father. Her short life had already been filled with so much uncertainty. Uncertainty flowing directly from Mina’s hands. He wanted to help her as much as she could. The 4-year-old didn’t deserve this. He sighed, knowing that this was the best he could do for her. She would disappear. New family, new name, and no records of the transaction. She would have the chance to live a full life with a brand-new family, with nothing to tie her to her true identity and the Van Helsing bloodline.

He jogged back the way he came, knowing that he’d passed a town not long ago on his journey out, and hoping that he could find a bus or train to get back to Seoul before sunrise. He didn’t want to leave Daehyun alone during the transformation. He also wasn’t sure that where he’d left Daehyun lying would be safe from the sunlight.

He made it to town and was pleased to be informed at the local gas station that there was a train station just down the road. He headed there quickly and spent all of his remaining cash on a train ticket to Seoul. He glanced up at the time. Midnight. He should have plenty of time. The train would take only an hour to reach its destination and left in half an hour. By 2 am, he’d be back in Seoul, finding his way back to Daehyun’s apartment. And his return journey would give him plenty of time to figure out how he was going to sell his deception to Mina.

He arrived in Seoul, and began running, not having money to take a cab or the subway back to Daehyun’s apartment. He saw a woman carrying an infant in the distance. She looked as though she was headed for the church also ahead of him, and Youngjae understood what she was doing. This woman didn’t want her baby. She was going to put it in one of those dropboxes. Realization struck him hard. If he took this baby, he could sell the lie. He approached her. “I can take him for you,” he told her calmly. “I work here. I was just coming in for the night.” The lies easily slid off his tongue.

She looked startled. “Ah… I’m sorry.” She put the child into his arms. “Please take good care of him. I just simply can’t.” The frightened single mother ran away from him, crying, and he marveled at his good luck. This would work perfectly. Once the woman was gone, he continued his journey back to Daehyun’s apartment. The infant in his arms began crying, and he sank his fangs into the baby’s neck, sucking down just enough blood to keep him weak and quiet. He arrived back at the apartment building, and climbed back in the way he’d left earlier.

He placed the baby on the bed in Daehyun’s room, and then went to check on Daehyun. He’d seen a few vampire transformations. It wasn’t as though they were especially exciting. The corpse remained still for a full day. Generally, the second night, the vampire blood would activate and spread through the system, altering every cell in the body from human to vampire. The body might convulse in pain as it underwent this process. It often felt like what he imagined being set on fire would feel like. Or perhaps being burned to death by the sun. Regardless, it was painful. Every single vampire woke up in pain and thirsty.

Daehyun’s body was in the same position he’d left it in, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Youngjae bent down and picked him up, dragging him to the couch and arranging him in what seemed like a more comfortable position. He checked the infant on the bed, aware that his time was running short. The sun would come out in a few hours, and he needed to be sure no one would get suspicious. A screaming baby would certainly be suspicious. He bit the child again, ensuring he wouldn’t wake up the whole day, and then he closed the door. He used a blanket to block out any light that might sneak through the crack under the door, and then he sat down on the couch, placing Daehyun’s head on his lap, and allowing himself to get lost in his own thoughts.

He knew so much about Daehyun already. How kind he was. How he’d been a great husband to Sora, and perhaps an even better lover. It wasn’t as though Youngjae had never seen it. He’d felt the way Sora responded to him. Her memories had been full of Daehyun and Ji-eun. He hoped Ji-eun would be safely whisked away during the day. Never to return. He hoped his deception would work. He hoped, above all, that he could do as he’d promised Sora. Protect her family.

He didn’t even realize he’d fallen asleep until he woke up that evening, Daehyun already thrashing in his lap. His eyes were fluttering wildly and he moaned in pain. Youngjae knew there was nothing he could do to ease the pain, but he could feel the mental thread between them starting to establish itself, meaning that Daehyun was close to regaining consciousness. It wouldn’t be long before he would wake up as a vampire, and Youngjae felt nervous. Daehyun was the first person he’d turned. He didn’t know what he was doing or what to expect. He’d seen Yongguk turn two people to help him with following Mina’s orders. His servants were loyal and funny and entertained both him and Himchan. Mina’s army, they called themselves as a joke. Even Sora had been able to laugh about it, despite her bitterness. None of them liked their master, but they couldn’t do anything about it. Just a group of vampire siblings enslaved to the wishes of a cruel master. Yongguk’s children were not bound to Mina’s wishes and had offered a reprieve and a level of entertainment.

Regardless, Yongguk’s experience wasn’t his experience, and he didn’t really know what to expect. Not really. Yongguk had never explained the process to him. He just knew that he could make Daehyun bow to his will due to their connection. He tested the connection now, getting no response. It probably wouldn’t be effective until he woke up, Youngjae reasoned.

It wasn’t long after that that Daehyun actually did wake up. He did so quickly. So quickly that he’d sprang out of Youngjae’s lap and snarled before Youngjae could even think to stop him. His eyes were red. Dark, blood red. He looked dangerous. The most dangerous vampire Youngjae had ever encountered short of Mina. He felt the connection settle in then, cementing their bond, and he tugged at it. Daehyun’s head swiveled towards him, then past him. He sniffed the air.

Before Youngjae could stop him, he had ripped the door off its hinges and pounced on the infant. It was only a few seconds, but the child was left as nothing more than a blood spot. Daehyun had consumed him thoroughly. It was horrifying. Even Youngjae, who had seen his fair share of vampire related carnage, could admit that watching Daehyun’s newborn bloodlust was terrifying.

“Daehyun,” Youngjae called sharply, pulling at their mental connection.

Daehyun looked up at him, covered in blood and confused. Perhaps the level of bloodlust was what separated Seconds from Thirds, he considered. The further away from the Original you were, the more of an animal you became. He quickly shook the thought when Daehyun again ran, heading for the window and letting himself out into the world.

He attacked one person, and Youngjae tugged at their connection with all his might, trying to stop him from killing the man. If he didn’t drain too much blood, the human would survive. Daehyun stopped, wincing at the amount of pain Youngjae’s grip must have been causing him. Youngjae released the pressure, knowing full well that was how Mina used her innate ability as his master to control him.

Daehyun immediately sprinted off again, and Youngjae chased after him. He was faster than his creation, at least. He caught up, right as he was about to grab another person, and he grabbed Daehyun’s wrist, throwing him to the ground. He straddled him to hold him there, while Daehyun flailed against the restraint. “Daehyun,” he growled, staring deeply into his eyes, “listen to me. I am your Master, and you will listen to me.”

Daehyun stopped struggling then, though his eyes searched for answers within Youngjae’s.

“My name is Yoo Youngjae. I turned you into a vampire. I promised Sora, your wife, that I’d protect you. Now I need you to listen to me, or you will be killed.”

Daehyun didn’t seem to really understand him, but he nodded. Youngjae relaxed his grip on their mental connection once more. Daehyun immediately began struggling again.

With a groan, Youngjae spoke again. With all the authority he could muster, he said, “Follow me. That’s an Order.” Daehyun immediately straightened up, but Youngjae refused to relax his grasp on the other’s consciousness. Daehyun was either very good at resisting or he was just not as practiced at giving orders as his own maker. He assumed it was both. Still prodding Daehyun every step of the way, he called Himchan to ask for a ride.

“What happened to your car?”

“I uh… it’s destroyed. My newborn flipped it.”

“You’ve got a newborn? Who?”

“You’ll see,” Youngjae promised, well aware that his brothers would not be pleased. But he didn’t care. He’d promised Sora, and grown attached to the people most important to her. He would keep Daehyun safely by his side, and he’d done the best he possibly could for Ji-eun, sending her as far away from vengeful vampires as possible.

Himchan agreed after a few moments, but Youngjae kept walking with Daehyun, taking them away from the city, away from people and the temptation of human blood. Daehyun prickled against his senses, fighting him every step of the way. He was glad when Himchan finally arrived, and after he’d forced Daehyun to get in and joined him, he was happy to sit down in the car and only focus on controlling Daehyun.

“I stopped by and saw the apartment before I came for you. Bloody mess you made.”

Youngjae groaned and gestured to Daehyun. “He did it.”

“Ahh… Who is he?” Himchan asked, suddenly curious about the stranger who’d gotten in his car.

“Sora’s former husband.”

“You turned him?” he asked incredulously. “Mina is going to be pissed at you.”

“Technically, he’s dead now, just like she wanted. And you saw the blood. The daughter is gone.” He lied through his teeth easily. Himchan would make the assumption he wanted him to make, and tell everyone that Daehyun had killed his own daughter. That was perfect. Now, all he needed was Daehyun to stop fighting against his mental connection, and perhaps, finally, his life could find some new kind of normal. Mina would berate him for bringing home a newborn, but she’d let it slide. And then he could find a new normal without Mina looming over him and making demands all the time. A normal without Sora. A normal with a servant that would hopefully become less of a headache as time wore on and he settled down. There was hope for the future. Hope for Daehyun and Ji-eun. And hope… hope that someday he could kill Mina with Daehyun at his side.


	9. July 8 (Daehyun)

July 8, 2043

Daehyun struggled to figure out what was going on with Youngjae. He’d gone off to work Monday evening, pretty much his usual routine, promising to return and let Daehyun tease him. And of course, Daehyun had looked forward to it. Sex with Youngjae was fun, especially when they both liked to tease each other. However, when Youngjae had returned from work Tuesday morning, he’d been moody.  It wasn’t like Youngjae to get like this and not tell him why. Things happened. Sometimes Youngjae got grumpy, but he’d generally discuss it with Daehyun to help get it off his mind. This was different, and Daehyun was worried.

He wondered if perhaps he’d done something wrong. The only thing he remembered doing recently was giving Youngjae a hard time about giving him Orders. Youngjae hadn’t been upset after that reminder. Youngjae himself didn’t want to Order Daehyun around, but he would inadvertently do so if he were really serious about something. For the most part, after he’d adjusted to his existence as a vampire, Youngjae had loosened his grip on his servant, and Daehyun rarely felt like he was being ruled over. He felt the bond that tied them together, certainly, but Youngjae never abused it, and it ran deeper than just a master and his servant. He was treated with respect and kindness, and Daehyun fully understood that was because of the specific circumstances behind why Youngjae had turned him and because Youngjae’s master, the Countess, had abused theirs. Youngjae knew what it felt like and tried his hardest not to do it to him.

And Daehyun loved Youngjae.

That was the biggest difference, he assumed. He trusted Youngjae completely, and he knew Youngjae trusted him. It wasn’t like Youngjae needed to Order him around to make Daehyun do whatever he wanted. Daehyun aimed to please his partner, to keep him happy, so simple requests were sufficient.

He idly wondered if maybe Youngjae was in a bad mood because he’d gotten word that Mina had returned to check in on her Korean coven. That would make more sense. Youngjae hated her. However, if that was the reason for his moodiness, it wouldn’t make sense for Youngjae to keep it to himself. Daehyun hated her too. So Mina couldn’t have been the cause. Youngjae would have said something immediately so they could both bad-mouth her incessantly if she were coming back. They’d have thought of hair-brained schemes to try to kill her, but then never actually do anything about it.

With all the obvious possibilities eliminated, it meant that something else was the cause. Daehyun decided he’d get to the bottom of it. If Youngjae wouldn’t share, he’d have to pry it out of him. He needed to know what was going on because he didn’t think he could handle many more days of moody, quiet Youngjae.

Youngjae returned not long after that with a woman. Dinner, Daehyun realized.

“This is my roommate,” Youngjae announced. “Daehyun.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said. She said her name too, but Daehyun didn’t bother to remember it. It didn’t matter.

He sat down on the chair, while they sat down on the couch. He hated watching this part, but he knew Youngjae had to make the victim compliant and at ease. It made it easier for him to hypnotize the human if they were already yielding to his wishes.

Following the usual routine, Youngjae put on a movie and within minutes he started messaging her upper thigh. Daehyun narrowed his eyes, jealous, as he watched Youngjae slide his hand further up and then between her thighs. She looked over at Youngjae, confused because Daehyun was sitting in the room, and Youngjae was being awful forward. He just smiled and leaned toward her, his lips brushing against hers gently at first. She only took a second to recover from her surprise, and then she was kissing him in return.

Daehyun fought down the possessive growl forming in his throat. It would be over soon, anyway. After a few more seconds, Youngjae pulled away and whispered, “Sleep.” She immediately fell limp, unconscious, and he positioned her on the couch on his lap. He took his knife, the one that he kept on his person at all times and said that Sora had given him, and he cut the woman’s wrist, allowing her blood to flow.

“Drink, Daehyun,” he said quietly. And then he gave the one and only Order that Daehyun always accepted without question. “Do not hurt her.”

He knelt down by her side and brought her cut wrist to his lips. He lapped up the blood flowing out of the wound, savoring the taste while being careful to keep his fangs away from her skin. The temptation was there. Oh how his instincts told him to bury his teeth into her and suck her dry. But the order from Youngjae to not harm her surged through his body, and that alone kept the woman safe. That was why he wouldn’t hunt without Youngjae around. Why he rarely left the house. He struggled to control his instinct to kill, and Youngjae, as his master, could forbid it. He didn’t want to needlessly kill humans, not when they could do this instead. Not when he’d already killed enough.

The wound was beginning to heal, skin closing up neatly. The heavenly Van Helsing blades. They didn’t hurt humans. The cut was real enough, but the damage… the damage healed itself. Youngjae noticed, and he cut her again, opening a new wound for Daehyun to drink from. It took a total of six cuts for Daehyun to consume enough blood to no longer feel thirsty. He certainly wasn’t full, but any more wouldn’t be safe for the woman. She’d feel woozy from blood loss when she woke up in the morning, but she’d recover, unaware what had truly happened to her.

Youngjae called a cab after he’d wiped the blood off her skin. He always sent their victims home so they didn’t become a temptation for either of them. Daehyun waited while Youngjae carried her outside and put her in the cab so she would get home safely. And when he returned, Daehyun sat on the couch, waiting.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“What? Nothing’s wrong,” Youngjae answered as he kicked off his shoes.

“You’ve been avoiding me the last couple of days. And you broke a promise. You said I could tease you yesterday morning,” Daehyun insisted.

“Ahh…” Youngjae started awkwardly. “It’s nothing really. Some human drama at work. It’ll sort itself out.”

“You aren’t the type to get this upset over human drama. Not upset enough to ignore me, at least.”

Youngjae sat next to him on the couch and reached out to hold his hand. “I’m sorry for avoiding you, Daehyunnie. Just give me a couple of days to sort things out.”

“I don’t like you keeping secrets from me,” Daehyun leveled. He saw Youngjae gulp. A leftover human habit that betrayed the fact that he actually was keeping a secret. Daehyun frowned. “So there is a secret?”

Youngjae nodded. “Don’t worry about it.” As if to distract him, Youngjae leaned over to kiss him, but Daehyun realized this was ideal. This would give him an opportunity to take advantage of the situation and taste Youngjae’s blood. He could see what Youngjae was hiding from him this way. He’d be mad, of course, as digging through memories without the other’s consent was extremely intrusive, but Daehyun needed to know what the other was hiding more than he cared about facing Youngjae’s wrath.

He wasted no time, pulling Youngjae to him, lips meeting his master’s eagerly. He pushed Youngjae down, below him, and settled on top, immediately returning to kissing his master passionately. Youngjae groaned into his mouth, not resisting, happily letting Daehyun take charge of the moment. With a smirk, Daehyun feathered kisses down Youngjae’s jaw, his neck. He unbuttoned the other vampire’s shirt, spreading it open so he could kiss and nip down his torso. Daehyun knew he was rushing, but he didn’t care. Youngjae responded to his touch eagerly despite his fast pace. Without hesitation, he rid his master of his trousers and boxers, easing them off completely.

He slowed down then, deciding to enjoy this for now. Youngjae looked at him with pleading eyes, and it was a rare enough sight that he wasn’t about to let it end too quickly. Coyly, he licked and kissed and bit his way up Youngjae’s legs, from his ankle all the way to his thigh. Youngjae stood erect, pulsing with need after all the teasing, and Daehyun didn’t hesitate, immediately taking his master’s cock into his mouth. He bobbed his head a couple of times, carefully ensuring that his fangs stayed well away from the sensitive flesh, earning a whining moan from Youngjae. He increased his pace, sucking more firmly and swirling his tongue along the underside as he moved. Youngjae’s hands entwined in his hair, guiding his mouth at a feverish pace. But Daehyun wasn’t going to let him have the release he wanted. Not yet.

He moved away, pulling his head out of Youngjae’s grasp. He took two fingers and stuck them deeply in his mouth, coating them with saliva, and then he reached between Youngjae’s legs, easing a finger inside of his master. He tensed at first, and Daehyun waited for him to relax. Once he did, he eased his second, saliva-coated finger inside, and he gently caressed Youngjae’s inner walls.

Youngjae shuddered beneath him, and he, while already aroused, felt his own cock grow even harder with need, twitching with anticipation. “Fuck, Daehyun” Youngjae growled, “just let me cum already.”

Not an Order. A request. And with that, Daehyun pulled his fingers away and slid his own trousers down just far enough to free his engorged cock. It ached for attention, and Daehyun moved so he was positioned at Youngjae’s entrance. Youngjae thrust against him, desperate for release, and then Daehyun slid his erection into Youngjae. It was tight. Tighter than he remembered, and he grunted. Youngjae wasn’t in the mood to wait, and lifted his hips up, thrusting himself against Daehyun’s erection, his own flexing with each push into him. Daehyun bent down then, taking over the thrusting, burying his cock deeply into Youngjae with each motion, grunting each time. “You’re so tight,” he hissed.

A cocky smirk. “Because you don’t take advantage of this fine ass enough,” Youngjae retorted.

Daehyun roughly pushed into him, kissing him to wipe that cocky look off his face. He was relentless, rocking his hips against Youngjae’s as fast as he could, savoring the sound of Youngjae grunting and groaning in his ear. “Ahhh fuck,” Youngjae purred lowly. The next thing Daehyun felt was Youngjae coming around him, his muscles convulsing in ecstasy, his ejaculate seeping through the shirt Daehyun wore. Daehyun was close himself, Youngjae’s tightness around him being hard to resist. After several more thrusts, he came too, groaning as he released into Youngjae. He stayed seated within his master for a few moments after coming, head filled with euphoria.

With Youngjae was spent below him, Daehyun took the opportunity to sink his fangs into the other’s exposed neck. It took a moment for Youngjae to realize what had happened, and then he thrashed below him, “No, Daehyun,” he begged. “Don’t. Please, don’t.”

But it was too late to heed the request. He’d already seen the memory that was tormenting Youngjae. That he’d been trying to keep hidden. A young woman he’d encountered at the bar. A name. Ji-eun. A face. Identical to Daehyun’s own. That was all he needed to see. He flung himself off of Youngjae, livid and hurt. “How could you?” he seethed, quickly readjusting his boxers and trousers.

“Daehyun, I can explain…” Youngjae started.

Daehyun was not in any mood to listen. “You lied to me about my daughter being dead. All this time.”

“I was told to make her disappear! Mina wanted her dead, but I… I followed the order to the letter, not the meaning. I had Ji-eun sent to another country. I deceived Mina to protect her! I had to deceive you to protect her. Mina can’t find out she’s alive!” Youngjae insisted, standing up, reaching for his hand.

Daehyun jerked away. “You let me believe I’d killed her. All the guilt I’ve carried for all this years for nothing, and it’s your fault.”

“It is my fault,” Youngjae agreed. “Daehyun… I…”

Daehyun didn’t want to hear his excuses. In fact, all he really wanted to do was strangle Youngjae. With an angry huff, he went to find a clean shirt, and then he strode out of the apartment. For the first time in years, he was leaving on his own.

He was on the street, vision clouded with rage as he stomped toward nowhere in particular. He just needed to be away. After a while, he realized that Youngjae hadn’t followed him and felt surprised. He was sure he’d have been followed. He slowed his pace then, thoughts jumbled as he wandered aimless down the street. He was still very angry with Youngjae. He trusted Youngjae, and he’d been rewarded with lies and betrayal.

“Youngjae had his reasons,” he whispered to himself. His anger welled up again. It didn’t matter what those reasons were. Youngjae had let him believe his daughter was dead. That he’d killed her on the night he’d risen as a vampire. The others had gossiped about how brutal it had been and that there had been nothing left, and Daehyun had lived with the guilt ever since. Not only had he been unable to protect his daughter, he had killed her.

But now… she was alive?

She’d never died.

He hadn’t killed her.

He took a deep breath, more out of habit than actually needing air. If she really was alive, then he had to go see her. He needed to see her for himself.

He turned around and managed to trudge his way home just before sunrise, still upset with Youngjae, but determined to meet his daughter. He said nothing to his master and simply crawled into bed. Even when Youngjae came to bed with him, he moodily shifted away from him. He was relieved that Youngjae understood that meant to leave him alone.

Youngjae cleared his throat and started talking. “I know you’re upset with me. You have every right to be. I never thought she’d come back. I thought she’d stay safely in another country with another identity forever. She’d live a long, happy, human life, and then die like a human. I loved her, Daehyun. I really did. I drank Sora’s blood, I shared her memories, and I fell in love with her family. You and Ji-eun.”

“Youngjae,” Daehyun whispered harshly, “I don’t want your excuses.”

“I don’t want to make excuses. I want you to understand. I couldn’t kill her. Mina made a mistake and Ordered that I ‘make the child disappear’. Kill you and make the girl disappear. And I did both, just not how she wanted. I couldn’t defy Mina outright, but I could twist the Order around to save Ji-eun and still make Mina believe that your daughter was dead.”

“You should have just killed us both,” Daehyun interjected.

“I couldn’t do it,” Youngjae insisted. “Sora… she made me promise that I’d protect you. Both of you. I didn’t mean to cause you pain.”

Daehyun grumbled and fell silent. He didn’t have anything else to say. Shortly after that, he fell asleep, surrendering to the effects of the sun.

-

He woke up that evening just before sunset. Youngjae had already left the bed and was preparing for work. “I’m going with you today,” Daehyun said as he headed to the bathroom to shower.

“What?”

“You saw my daughter at the bar you work in. So I’m going with you.”

Daehyun could see that Youngjae wanted to protest, but his master fought down the response and chose to say nothing. “You have to drink stuff while you’re there,” he finally replied. “At least pretend to.”

Daehyun nodded in understanding, and then took his shower. Cleaned and dressed in fresh jeans and a t-shirt, he waited for Youngjae. Despite his anger with his master, he was reassured by his presence. Youngjae could keep him in check around humans, and he certainly didn’t want to chance meeting his adult daughter and then attacking her.

The walk to Youngjae’s place of employment was uncomfortable. Daehyun fidgeted in anticipation, uncertain what would happen, and Youngjae seemed glum. They said nothing, not even looking at each other, and finally, they arrived. Without even a word, Youngjae disappeared to the employee area, and Daehyun sat down at the bar, scanning the room.

He noticed her immediately, even though her back was facing him. He could smell her. She… smelled like him, he realized. His blood. His throat went dry and not from thirst. If his heart still beat, he knew it would be wildly pounding in his chest. “Ji-eun,” he whispered.

She stood up hurriedly, and bowed to her coworkers, nervously glancing around her before heading straight outside. Daehyun stood up and followed after her, trying to figure out how to best approach her. She seemed to be in a hurry and also anxious. So Daehyun called out to her from a distance, “Ji-eunie!”

She stopped in her tracks and turned around, eyes wide in fear. Her expression relaxed a bit when she saw him. “How do you know that name?”

He walked closer to her, still keeping his space so as to not startle her. She was obviously very frightened. “I know you,” he said quietly. “From before.”

She looked like she was going to run, but then curiosity seemed to have gotten the better of her. She stepped towards him. “How? I was just a kid. No one would remember me.” She was close enough to see his face clearly now, and her jaw dropped. “You… you look just like my dad.”

Daehyun watched as her eyes lit up with understanding. “You are my dad,” she concluded, backing away from him once more. “And you are a vampire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title for this chapter: In Which Shit Starts to Get Real
> 
> Ohhh... no more flashbacks to the past from this point forward, and the rest will be in chronological-ish order.


	10. July 8 (Joy)

July 8, 2043

Joy had been jumpy all day. To be fair, she’d been jumpy the last couple of days. She’d been creeped out by her encounter with the waiter, Youngjae, in the bathroom. He’d told her to leave. Threatened her. She didn’t want to go back to the bar, but she knew her coworkers really liked it and would hassle her if she didn’t go with them. She’d just have to go and hope he wasn’t working, and if he was, she’d be sure to stick close to her coworkers. He couldn’t bother her if she was with someone else. Or she hoped that was the case, at least.

She hadn’t been able to shake the familiar feeling he evoked in her. She could have sworn she’d seen him before.

“Joy!” her boss called. “How’s the translation coming?”

She hadn’t been paying any attention to it, so she lied. “I’m making pretty good progress. It’ll be done before long.” The second part was the truth, at least. She could translate the document into English pretty quickly.

She put aside thoughts of the strange guy at the bar and pounded out her assignment. She needed to at least do that much if she wanted to keep her job. She finished it up and took it to Taekhyun so he could look it over. “Good job,” he told her. “You got that done quickly. Just send it to Minhyuk hyung. And to celebrate your first finished assignment, how about you come along for a drink tonight?”

“Ah…” she said, “I was going to go to the courthouse tonight,” she replied trying to tell him no. She didn’t really want to risk encountering Youngjae again.

“Those old documents can wait until later,” he insisted.

Joy thought they were probably more important than he realized, but she wasn’t about to question him. She’d realized in her short time there that he was the nephew of the president of the company, and it wouldn’t be good to upset him too much. “Okay. I’ll come,” she agreed somewhat hesitantly.

Nodding in satisfaction, he turned back to his own work after that, and she went back to her desk. She wanted to look through public records. There had to be information on her mother and father somewhere. She searched her own name on a search engine. “Jung Ji-eun.”

It was the same results as usual. A few social media profiles for other women with the same name. And then, suddenly, on the third page was a result she’d never seen before. A forum post. “Anyone know about the disappearance of Jung Ji-eun?” the poster asked. It was from a few weeks ago.

“I heard it was a vampire attack. Haha XD”

“Are you crazy? Vampires? No such thing,” a third poster added.

“My dad was a detective that worked that case when I was a kid. She disappeared without a trace. Her entire family, too. The statute of limitation is up on the mother’s disappearance. Here’s a link with all the evidence available to the public.” It was a fourth poster.

Joy felt her heart pound rapidly. She kept scrolling down. “I have a link to an article about the crime scene,” a poster added. “Mostly talks about the father. Says he went crazy after the mother died. He fully believed that vampires had killed her. Not sure how he was able to keep the kid after going that crazy…”

Ji-eun felt her palms sweating in anticipation. How had this never come up before? She clicked on the link to the article. “Father and daughter go missing.” She read through it quickly. There was a picture of her and her father, Jung Daehyun the article said, posted in the paper so people could try to help find them. She’d been kidnapped, they said. Her father likely murdered and then his body hidden. They had no idea what had happened to her. With no bodies ever recovered it was hard to definitively say what had happened to either of them.

“Was I really… kidnapped?” she pondered.

It hadn’t seemed like being kidnapped. The man had been very kind to her. She couldn’t recall all the details, but she’d allowed him in the house, and he’d carried away. She remembered crying a lot and being sad, and then she remembered meeting her adoptive parents and leaving the country the very next day. It was all a blur. At the time, she hadn’t thought anything strange of it, but now, she realized that something had been very wrong. Adoptions took much longer than that to be processed. Something shady had obviously occurred. She thought about her rescuer. Nothing about him had seemed particularly strange, but she was a child and was looking at her father lying dead on the ground…

She thought about what several people had suggested on that message board. Vampires. Her father… had been so afraid of the dark. And letting strangers in the house. The crosses. Everything. All of it. He was afraid of vampires. So maybe… what if maybe he’d been attacked by a vampire? And her resuer… “He needed permission to enter,” she whispered to herself. She sat trembling in her chair, struggling to keep from succumbing to the building panic she felt.

“Joy?” Taekhyun called, evidently having heard her whispering to herself. “You okay?”

Joy jumped out of her seat, startled. “Yeah… uh, yes,” she replied shakily.

“What’s up?”

“Oh… it’s nothing really.” She gave him a weak smile. She didn’t feel okay, nor was it nothing. It had to be right. A vampire had attacked her father.

“We’ll go out for something to drink. That’ll make you feel better,” he said kindly with a smile.

Joy nodded non-committedly. She was going, but she doubted much was going to make her feel better. Not when she now suspected that vampires had been the cause of everything. Not when they’d killed her father. When she’d let the vampire who’d probably killed him come inside and… Her eyes opened wide with realization. “Oh my God,” she breathed.

“What?” Taekhyun asked as he hadn’t returned to his own desk yet.

“It’s nothing,” Joy assured. But she had solved a mystery. She knew why Youngjae looked familiar. He had been the one who’d carried her out of the house on the night of her father’s death. She recognized his face. And it looked exactly the same as the face she’d seen as a child. He hadn’t changed in the nearly 20 years it had been since that night. He was the vampire that had killed her father. He had arranged for her to be smuggled out of the country.

But if he was a vampire, it didn’t make sense. Why kill her father and then save her? Shouldn’t he have killed them both? For what reason would a vampire rescue a young girl and send her off to be adopted and leave the country the very next day? And why exactly was he so obviously upset about her returning?

Her mind raced through possibilities, and before she realized it, the day was over. She was once more dragged to the bar with her coworkers, and she was antsy. She had a few drinks, but they did nothing to help calm her down. Part of her wanted to talk to Youngjae, to dig deeper to find the truth, but most of her said to flee before it got dark. She kept her drinking to the minimum because she didn’t want to get drunk and forget to take care of herself. And she was now well aware that she needed to be vigilant.

The sun was starting to set, and the light outside was fading. She felt someone watching her, and she figured it was the waiter again. She quickly said her goodbyes, and headed out, hurrying to get to the subway station before he noticed she was gone. And then she heard her name called.

“Ji-eunie!”

She froze and turned around, frightened, but ready to stand her ground. S wouldn’t be able to outrun him anyway. When her eyes landed on him, she easily noticed that this wasn’t the same man. His build was different. “How do you know that name?” she questioned.

He stepped closer, and she tensed up, nervous. “I know you. From before.”

She felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Her instincts told her to flee. He seemed dangerous. But he knew her from before. She had to know. She needed answers.

“How?” she asked, stepping closer to him, trying to see his face. “I was just a kid. No one would remember me.” She was close enough to him now, and she could see his face. Her heart lurched when she recognized him. “You… you look just like my dad,” she gasped.

Suddenly, it all made sense. She’d just seen his picture in the paper from 2024 earlier that day. This was him. Jung Daehyun. Her father. And he hadn’t aged a day. He looked just like he did in her memories. The father she’d slept beside when the darkness was so scary and who’d taken care of her. “You _are my dad_ ,” she whispered. He’d been attacked by a vampire, and she’d seen him dead, but he must have been turned instead. He still lived as an undead. Quietly, she concluded, “And you are a vampire.”

Joy trembled in both fear and excitement. She never imagined that she’d see her father again, yet here he stood in front of her. It was exhilarating to see him again, but she knew he was dangerous. He could kill her.

“I am,” he confirmed. “I’m so glad to see you again. I thought you were dead. I thought… I thought I’d killed you.”

“I thought you were dead, too,” she admitted. “I saw you… crumpled on the floor.”

“Why don’t we… go back and sit down and catch up?”

She felt nervous at that. He was still a predator now, despite being her father, and the waiter was there, too.

“I won’t hurt you,” he promised.

“What about…?”

“Youngjae?” Daehyun inserted. When she nodded, he stated, “He’d have to go through me first.”

With a sigh, and unsure what she was actually doing, she started walking back to the bar. Her coworkers were getting ready to leave when she walked in and shot her suggestive looks when they saw her re-enter with a man. She shook her head vigorously, waving her hands in front of herself to shoot down their insinuations. They rolled their eyes, obviously not believing her, and then left.

She groaned to herself. “They’re going to think you’re my boyfriend now,” she explained when Daehyun cocked an eyebrow at her.

He chuckled and had her sit down. Youngjae walked by, and her father scowled at him. They obviously knew each other, but Joy couldn’t figure out what was going on. Daehyun must have seen the confused look on her face. “We had a fight,” he explained. “He is the one that turned me and so now he is my master. We live together. We are…” he looked a bit uncomfortable as he searched for a way to explain the relationship to her. “We are together.”

“Like… dating?” Joy asked to clarify.

“I suppose it’s more like marriage,” Daehyun described. “But it’s not as though vampires can be legally married. Youngjae has falsified documents in order to have a job. And I, technically, don’t exist.”

“I see,” Joy trailed off. “So if you’re together, why are you mad at him?” Admittedly, she was a little surprised that her father was with a man, as her generally fuzzy memories of him included him talking about how much he’d loved her mom. Of course, it wasn’t as though she cared. His sexuality was his own business. The greater surprise was that she was even talking to him right now. Still, she wondered how they’d ended up together.

“He… lied to me about you being alive. He told me you were gone and let me believe that I’d killed you. Last night, when I found out that you were still alive, I got very upset. I’m still upset. I lived with the guilt of killing you for 19 years, and he just let me believe in the lie while watching me suffer.”

“Oh… that’s awful.”

“He said he had his reasons. He was trying to protect you. And I don’t believe that’s a lie. I just don’t understand why he did it.”

Joy nodded somberly. “He frightened me,” she added. “He seemed upset that I was in Korea.”

Daehyun shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Youngjae walked up to their table and smiled meekly. “Do you need anything?”

“Go away,” Daehyun muttered.

Immediately, Joy blurted out, “Why are you upset that I’m here?” Her father said he’d had his reasons for what he’d done, and she wanted to know because there was obviously something going on.

Youngjae exhaled heavily. “You should catch up with your father first. I can bring you a drink though.”

“I’m good,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry about earlier this week,” Youngjae apologized quickly. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I was just so surprised when I saw you because you look so much like Daehyun, and I needed to confirm my suspicions. I invaded your space trying to smell your blood, and I apologize for that.”

Daehyun frowned at him, and Youngjae fidgeted, looking to leave.

“You… you can smell my blood?” she asked, incredulous.

“Of course, I can,” he said, laughing. “You smell like him,” he gestured to Daehyun, “and you also smell like your mother.”

“You… knew my mother?” she questioned, eyes wide.

“Youngjae,” Daehyun warned.

Youngjae simply nodded. “I better get back to work,” he said quickly and then hurried off.

“He knew my mom?” she turned to Daehyun and questioned.

Daehyun groaned and closed his eyes. “After I was turned, I was told what happened to Sora, your mother. She became a vampire, and Youngjae watched out for her. Youngjae… loved her. And he says he fell in love with me and you while he was with her. He loved Sora so much that he decided to carry on her will when she died.”

“She died? How? She was a vampire, right? You don’t just die.”

“She stepped into the sunlight. On purpose. To spare herself the cruel fate of being forced to kill us.”

“Forced to kill us?”

He sighed again, seeming reluctant to share. “We… have a connection with the vampire who turns us. A bond something like a master and servant. If a master gives us an Order, we have no choice but to obey. The female vampire that turned your mother wanted both of us dead. She wanted Sora to do it. And your mom killed herself instead, and then Youngjae was sent after us.”

Joy had a pretty good idea how the story went from there. Youngjae, likely wanting to protect them, had found a way to follow the Order without carrying it out as intended. She’d disappeared, as though she’d never existed, and her father had died and been reborn undead. “So I guess… he really did protect us, huh?” she mused.

Daehyun cocked his head. “You’re not angry?”

“Not really. I’ve had a good life in the U.S. with my adopted family. I missed you terribly, but I didn’t _really_ remember you, you know. Mostly, I guess I’m just happy to be alive. Because from what you’re saying it sounds like I should be dead.”

Daehyun frowned as he seemed to consider her words, and then he changed the subject entirely. “How was life in the U.S.?”

She told him about her days in school and her adoptive family and everything she was good at and had enjoyed doing. About sports she’d played and events she’d attended. How well she’d done in school and how she’d just started a job in Seoul. He simply gazed at her, and she could see how proud he was of her accomplishments. He’d ask questions here and there, asking for more details on certain subjects, and she’d answer, happy to be telling her long lost Appa everything he’d missed out on. Admittedly, it also felt a bit odd. He was a stranger to her and a vampire no less. And she just sat… excitedly telling him all about what he’d missed out on in her life.

“I’m so glad you grew up well,” he stated happily. “I really just love you so much, and I’m so proud of you.”

She  flaked him a smile before unsuccessfully fighting back yawned and looking at the time. After midnight. “Ah crap,” she grumbled. “It’s late.”

“You have to work in the morning, don’t you? I can walk you home.”

She nodded. “I do have to work. I guess you can come along. But you can’t come inside. I’m not inviting a vampire in. I’m sorry.”

He chuckled. “Don’t be sorry. I understand. I’d rather you be vigilant. At least you learned that much from me.”

She smiled at him, and then they both stood up to go. Youngjae swooped in to say goodbye and then pulled Daehyun off to the side to whisper something to him. Daehyun scowled and jerked out of his grasp. “I’m fine,” he insisted loudly.

“Then I’ll see you when I get home. Love you,” Youngjae stated quietly.

“Yeah, see ya,” Daehyun agreed half-heartedly, and then turned to Joy to have her follow him. She wasn’t sure what had been said, but she wasn’t going to press the issue. Her father was obviously still mad at his lover, and it wasn’t her job to smooth out that tension.

She walked beside him to the subway station, feeling like she was in some kind of dream. She’d… met her father. She’d never imagined it possible, believing he was dead for so many years. She glanced over at him. “I can’t really get over how similar we look,” she said to him softly.

“I always thought you’d grow up to look just like me,” he admitted. “Except with your mother’s lips. Except it looks like your lips turned out more like mine anyway.”

“You know… Appa…” She said it timidly, unsure if she should call him that.

“Appa is fine, Ji-eunie.”

“Okay. Appa, do you… kill people?” she inquired.

“I… have,” he answered. “For me, it’s hard to control my lust for blood. Honestly, I rarely go out without Youngjae. He keeps me reined in. Youngjae and I have a method to obtain blood without harming anyone so I haven’t killed anyone in around fifteen years. I slipped up a few times in the past, but I’m okay now.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad. I don’t know if I could stand if you were a monster.”

“I am a monster. Without Youngjae, I’d have killed a lot more people. He’s got such good control over his instincts to kill and mine just… run rampant.”

“Would you hurt me?” she asked, slightly concerned after his admission.

“I couldn’t,” he replied. “I would rather die than hurt you.”

They arrived at the subway station and fell silent as they headed in together. Joy sat down beside him, close enough to be touching him, and it felt wrong. She was a little uncertain about being so close to a vampire, despite what he'd declared earlier. In addition, his body was at room temperature, quite a bit cooler than her own, which created an uncanny awareness of where his thigh touched hers. Joy imagined that the few passengers riding likely assumed that they were siblings. Their resemblance was very striking. It would make a good excuse to give her nosy coworkers in the morning when they asked about the guy she'd returned with.

It was three quick stops on the subway, and she exited, Daehyun following behind her. "Your apartment is in a nice area," he commented.

"My adoptive dad is helping pay for it right now. He wanted me to have something nice," Joy explained.

"He loves you."

Joy nodded. "He does. My adoptive mom does, too. They couldn't have kids, so they loved me as hard as they could when they brought me home."

They walked a few blocks, and then Joy had arrived back at her building and turned to her father. "Well, I'm back, so I will say goodnight here."

"Do you want my phone number?" Daehyun questioned. "Just in case you want to get in contact with me. I'd like to see you occasionally. Whenever you’re free."

"Sure," she agreed, pulling her phone out to create a new contact.

He recited it to her, and she immediately sent him a text so that he could save her number.

“I do go by Joy Baker now,” she told him, “but honestly, you can call me Ji-eun, if you want. If anyone should use that name, it’s you.”

He nodded and saved the number to his own phone. “Goodnight, Ji-eun.”

“Goodnight, Appa.” With that, she turned around, and she went inside, happy because she’d been reunited with her father and scared that she may wake up in the morning to find out it was all a dream. Because she most certainly hoped it wasn’t a dream. And she hoped that Youngjae’s warning was wrong. She certainly didn’t want her dream to turn into a nightmare.


	11. July 9 (Youngjae)

July 9, 2043

Youngjae woke up that evening with a groan. His throat felt dry. He was thirsty today and would need to find blood for himself. It had been a few days, after all. Around a week, he realized. Daehyun was still sleeping beside him, and he gazed at the other vampire with mixed emotions. He understood exactly why Daehyun was so upset with him, and he knew he deserved it. He’d deceived him, but he didn’t regret his deception. He’d kept Ji-eun alive, as promised. Daehyun would realize that eventually and forgive him. He just had to wait it out and be understanding until then.

He stood up and stretched, heading to the bathroom to shower. He heard Daehyun walk in and start brushing his teeth as he turned off the water. Tentatively, he asked, “Did you have a nice time talking to Ji-eun last night?” He reached out for his towel, drying his hair and body.

Daehyun didn’t answer him, spitting out the toothpaste in his mouth and rinsing it out.

“You should try to avoid her, Daehyun,” Youngjae said. “If Mina finds out about her, we’ll all be killed.”

“How would Mina find out about her?” Daehyun questioned sharply.

“If one of the others saw you out with a human, they’d get curious. And it wouldn’t take them long to realize that she’s your child.”

Daehyun scowled. “I will see my daughter.”

Youngjae simply shook his head in disapproval and left the bathroom, going to change. If only Ji-eun had remained hidden. The secret wasn’t going to stay secret, especially with Daehyun so determined to spend time with his daughter. Which meant Youngjae needed to figure out a plan. When the hammer fell, and it would, he needed to be ready to save them all.

He closed his eyes and sighed as he dressed and then waited for Daehyun to finish in the bathroom so he could finish getting ready for work. Daehyun exited, he entered to complete his routine, and then he headed off. Daehyun followed along behind him, and he felt his irritation at the other vampire starting to blossom. He was thirsty and tired and stressed out because he knew that at any moment everything could fall apart and having Daehyun plod along beside him grated against his nerves. He ground his teeth together in frustration.

He arrived at work to see Ji-eun chatting with her coworkers. “Your boyfriend’s here,” one of the older ladies announced too loudly.

Ji-eun frowned. “I told you he wasn’t… that. He’s my… brother.”

Daehyun went and sat down at a table by himself, and Youngjae went to check in with his boss before immediately getting to work. He went to check on Ji-eun and her coworkers first. They were still teasing her about Daehyun being her boyfriend, and that also irked him. He put a hand on Ji-eun’s shoulder, making her jump as he’d snuck up on her. “Well, considering that he’s my boyfriend,” he stated, forcing a smile, “I don’t think Joy is dating him.”

They all stared up at him, surprised at the revelation. “Is that really true?” an older lady, who Youngjae recalled was named Yeona, asked. “I always see you hitting on girls.”

“I’m always friendly with customers,” he remarked nonchalantly, shrugging. It wasn’t an inaccurate observation, though. He did flirt with women a lot, as they usually fell for his charms quickly and were easier to hypnotize when he needed to appease his thirst. “When I first saw Joy, I thought they looked eerily similar, and thought they might be related, so I wanted him to meet her.” A lie. He’d have preferred if they’d never met, but it was too late now, and it would sound better this way. “Turns out they are.”

Everyone seemed to be processing this new information. “He should come sit with us,” the one young man suggested. Wasn’t Taekhyun his name?

That’s when Ji-eun firmly stated, “No. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I barely know him myself. He’d be too pressured having to come meet all of you right now. Maybe someday though, I’ll introduce you to him.”

Youngjae was a bit surprised at how she’d asserted herself, but then again, he probably shouldn’t have been. Daehyun was stubborn. Sora had also been quite hardheaded. Besides, even if he took genetics out of the picture, she’d been raised in the US, where social respect was shown differently, and asserting oneself was often praised. She wasn’t just going to meekly comply to demands when she really didn’t want to do something. He smiled in amusement as they all seemed taken aback by her strong refusal.

The atmosphere became awkward after that, and it wasn’t long until they left, leaving Ji-eun behind. She stood up and turned to wave at Daehyun, smile on her face. He smiled back, and Youngjae knew that he was happy. That the weight of guilt that he’d carried had now been lifted because Ji-eun was alive. She sat with him, and they both talked, animated and cheerful, and Youngjae knew that he was going to have to do whatever it took to keep them together from this point forward. The danger didn’t matter anymore. Daehyun was the happiest he’d ever seen him, and Youngjae would do anything to protect this happiness.

He checked in on them occasionally, usually receiving annoyance from Daehyun and a couple of curious questions from Ji-eun. Her personality was bright and happy. She was the embodiment of what he imagined Daehyun and Sora had been before Mina had ruined everything for them.

It was about midnight when they departed, leaving Youngjae to work the still fairly crowded bar that Thursday evening. His shift finished up with no incidents, and he helped clean up. He usually closed everything on his own if it wasn’t a weekend evening, so he was there by himself. Chairs up, floors mopped, all the dishes washed and put away, and he was finally ready to leave. 3:30 am. He locked the bar behind him, and turned around to see a familiar face waiting for him that made his mind go blank. No no no no no. Not yet. Not now. Yongguk stood outside with Jongup and Junhong, waiting for him.

Youngjae tried to remain calm, but the timing was terrible, and he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread. He could maybe lie his way through this. There was a chance since Daehyun and Ji-eun had left hours ago.

“Yongguk hyung! Junhong! Jongup! Nice to see you again,” he greeted, perhaps overly enthusiastically.

“I came to check in on you. I wanted to see how you’re doing since you haven’t stopped by in years,” Yongguk explained.

“I’ve been busy working.”

“Hyung,” Junhong asked, “why don’t you come back?”

He was going to explain, but Yongguk answered for him. “He does not like Mina and refuses to rely on her to survive. I’ve explained this to you.”

“But I miss him,” the youngest amongst them complained.

“I will never forgive her for what she made Sora do,” Youngjae vowed. “What she made all of us do.”

“I understand, Youngjae,” Yongguk said. “You don’t need to explain it to me. What you do need to explain to me, though, is why you’ve been lying to us for so long?”

Dismay squeezed his chest. “Lying?”

“We saw Daehyun walking down the street with a human. A human who, upon closer inspection, looked like Daehyun, smelled like Daehyun, and if I’m recalling correctly, also smelled like what I remember Sora’s blood smelling like. So I’m inclined to believe that you didn’t actually kill the daughter like you were supposed to.”

“I couldn’t have betrayed an order like that, hyung,” Youngjae fibbed nervously.

Yongguk nodded. “And that’s what I can’t figure out. How you managed to do it. But… I do know that Jung Ji-eun is alive.”

Jongup and Junhong looked at the two, trying to figure out what to do next. “Shouldn’t we… kill her?” Jongup asked.

Youngjae snarled, exposing his fangs in anger. “If you harm her, I will kill you,” he said lowly. “And I’m not going to stop Daehyun from tearing apart anyone who tries.”

Yongguk nodded. “So we’re now all in agreement that this is, in fact, Sora’s daughter.” He frowned. “But Youngjae, what are you going to do when Mina finds out? She won’t make any errors when she orders you to kill them again. And Mina will punish you by making you do it.”

He glared down at Yongguk. “Don’t you dare tell her.”

“I have to tell her, Youngjae. That’s my Order. I don’t want to. I never wanted to kill anyone. I didn’t want any of this. We are all monsters. We deserve to die.”

“There is only one that needs to die,” Youngjae said darkly.

“Mina? We can’t kill her. It’s impossible.”

And that’s when Youngjae remembered something that he’d realized a long time ago. "I have Daehyun," he stated. He’d turned Daehyun to protect him, like Sora had begged, but he’d also done it because Daehyun was perfectly positioned to be a weapon that could kill Mina. He hated her. And Mina couldn’t control him on her own. She had to Order Youngjae to give Daehyun Orders. "And I have Jung Ji-eun, the final Korean descendant of the Van Helsing bloodline." And the holy blade that belonged to her. The blade he’d studied for years and suspected could only truly be used by a Van Helsing.

But he wasn’t going to tell Yongguk about the blade.

“Do you think Daehyun will be able to do it?”

“It’s better than nothing. Don’t you want to be free of her?”

Yongguk nodded. “I wish you luck Youngjae. I’ll try to help as much as I can, even if it’s limited.” Yongguk looked at Jongup and Junhong and issued an Order to them. “You two will not discuss this conversation. You will assist Youngjae and Daehyun in whatever capacity you can.”

They nodded, and together the three left. Youngjae needed to prepare. Mina would arrive before too long, and he needed to be ready. They all needed to be ready. He rushed home, slammed the door open, and went to find Daehyun.

He was on the couch watching TV, seemingly at ease. “Daehyun!” he exclaimed.

Daehyun glanced over at him, seeming perturbed. “What?”

“Yongguk knows. He saw you tonight,” Youngjae explained, throat tight with worry.

“Damn it… So… now what?”

“He’ll tell Mina, who will the come for us. Probably soon. And we have to be ready,” Youngjae said, pulling the knife out. As he looked at it, he realized that he’d been so stressed out that he’d forgotten to find a meal. He was so thirsty. He let himself flop back onto the couch, feeling exhausted.

“Ready?”

Youngjae reached his hand out to grasp Daehyun’s. Daehyun looked like he wanted to pull away, but he changed his mind. “It’s time to kill her, Daehyunnie.”

"How long until she's here?" Daehyun asked somberly. "How much time do we have?"

"She's not going to be able to make it here until sometime tomorrow night at the earliest. So we have a day," Youngjae stated with a sigh. It wasn't enough time. Especially when they were going to have to sleep during the day. There was no way around it. And he still hadn't had any blood. He and Daehyun were both going to need all the blood they could get if they stood any chance of surviving.

"I need to tell Ji-eun. So she knows."

"Have her come straight here after work tomorrow. No going out with her coworkers. She must come here. I need to explain some stuff to her." Youngjae said. "And sometime between now and then, I have to find blood. I'm so thirsty. At this point, even animal blood would do the trick."

"I'll help you," Daehyun said, standing up and readjusting his clothes. "Just wait here."

Youngjae would have asked where he was going but he was tired and stressed, and he didn't really care. He'd let Daehyun do as he pleased.

He drifted in and out of sleep during the time Daehyun was gone. He was startled awake when Daehyun quietly called to him, "Youngjae, I'm back."

Daehyun held out several bags of blood. "Did you... break into a hospital?" Youngjae questioned tiredly.

Daehyun nodded. "I got your favorite type."

"Thanks," Youngjae said, reaching out for a bag and tearing it open. He drank down the blood as quickly as he could, savoring the taste. Daehyun had indeed gotten his favorite type. AB. There was just something about drinking his own blood type that was extra delicious. After the first bag, he sighed in satisfaction. "You should drink some, too."

Daehyun shook his head. "You need it more than I do. I fed two days ago."

"We're both going to need it. So drink."

"I was only able to grab six bags. That's not enough for both of us if we want to get properly full," Daehyun asserted.

"Then I'll have two, and you have four. I'll go out early tomorrow tonight to get blood. We're both going to need as much strength as we can get."

Daehyun nodded glumly and did as Youngjae had asked. They sat in silence, sipping at blood, anxiety settling over them like a thick fog. The sun was starting to come up, and Youngjae could feel himself getting tired. He was still thirsty, but he had the earlier part of the next evening to slake his appetite. "Let's go to bed," Youngjae suggested.

They settled in together, each keeping to themselves and facing away from each other on the bed. "I'm still mad at you," Daehyun muttered.

"I know. But this is why I didn't tell you. I expect you to be angry at me and feel betrayed, but I want you to understand my reasons. Saving you both meant you had to believe that you'd killed her. If you believed that, professed that, Mina wouldn't doubt my loyalties and would have no reason to drink my blood to discover the truth."

Daehyun grunted in acknowledgement. "I just wish I'd known years ago."

"I'm sorry," Youngjae murmured. "But you know now. And now... now I'll die if I have to in order to make sure you can stay together. You've suffered enough, Daehyun."

He felt Daehyun roll toward him and then put an arm around his waist, gripping onto him tightly. "Don't you dare leave me," he whispered coarsely. "Don't make me suffer more by leaving me, Youngjae." He felt Daehyun press his forehead against his back as he clutched onto him. "I can't lose you, too."

Youngjae smiled in spite of the situation. "I thought you were mad at me?" he teased.

Daehyun didn't move away, but he remained silent. Eventually he said, "You're the only thing I've got left. Ji-eun is human. I can't stay with her. I love her because she is my daughter, but Youngjae, I love you, too. I can't bear the thought of living this cursed existence without you."

Youngjae sighed in satisfaction. "I love you too, Daehyun. Let's try to get some rest."

Daehyun stayed as he was, arms around Youngjae possessively, and Youngjae laid there while listening for Daehyun to settle into sleep. As he did so, worry and doubt swirled through his consciousness, but he knew that with Daehyun supporting him, he'd be able to face the upcoming confrontation. The only question was if they would be able to succeed. Youngjae knew that to stand any chance he had to do one thing. It pained him to have to do it. It would hurt Daehyun, too. The feel of their mental bond was so familiar and comforting, but to stand a chance Youngjae would need to sever it. It would be incredibly isolating for both of them. He closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. The next day would be traumatic. He didn’t know if any of them would even be alive when it was all over, but he was willing to try if it meant he might be able to right as many of the wrongs Mina had wrought upon the world.


	12. July 10 (Daehyun)

July 10, 2043

Daehyun felt the anxiety churning in his stomach when he woke up that afternoon, much earlier than usual for him, and he’d have felt queasy if such a thing were possible. Youngjae slept noiselessly beside him, resting on top of his arm. It was about 4 pm, he figured, though it was hard to tell without his phone, and it wasn’t as though he was going to remove the barriers on the windows to take a peak outside. He’d left his phone in the kitchen, and he needed to get it so that he could text Ji-eun. Or call her. It didn’t matter. As long as she ended up at their apartment before it got dark…

He carefully tried to pull his arm out from underneath of Youngjae, but it didn’t work. Youngjae woke up with a groan, turning toward him and trying to pull him close instinctually. He slipped out of the other vampire’s grasp and headed toward the kitchen, where he promptly located his phone and sent Ji-eun a text. “I’ll send you my address. I need you to come over to my apartment tonight. It’s important.”

“Is something wrong?” she replied.

He debated on how much to tell her, before deciding that yes, he should tell her that she was in danger. “Yes. Come here right after you’re done with work. It’ll be dangerous once it’s dark out.”

He sent her the address and then awaited her response. “Ok,” she answered. “I’ll be there soon.”

He cleaned up a bit in anticipation of Ji-eun’s arrival. He kept the apartment pretty clean, in general. He didn’t really have anything better to do with himself since he spent most nights stuck at home alone. He set the air conditioning a little cooler too so that the small, one bedroom apartment would be cooler for Ji-eun. He and Youngjae never cared if it was a little warm. They didn’t sweat, and it saved electricity and, therefore, money, but Ji-eun would most certainly find it too warm and too dark. So he turned on the light and cleaned up the dust on the furniture. They lived as frugally as possible, just so they didn’t have to rely on Mina’s wealth. As vampires, it wasn’t all that difficult. They didn’t really need lights and made due with candles. The fridge was turned off, as they didn’t need food. They kept the place too warm in the summer and too cold in the winter to keep the cost of bills down, and it had worked out well.

He heard Youngjae start the shower, and he waited so that he could shower too. He tried to keep his mind as blank as possible. It was hard to say what Mina would do once she arrived, but he was worried. He’d seen firsthand how harsh she could be and also heard additional secondhand accounts from Youngjae. She was not going to be pleased with Youngjae, which meant he was in danger, and Ji-eun was in danger simply because of her heritage. Not one of them would be safe from her wrath. He lost track of time as he showered, and eventually he realized he should finish up.

He stepped out of the shower to hear Youngjae talking to someone. And then he recognized Ji-eun’s voice. He quickly dressed and headed out to join the conversation. They were sitting on the couch, and she had a very serious expression on her face. Youngjae said, “I was telling her about everything.”

Daehyun nodded. Even he didn’t know all of the details, but he knew Youngjae would fill him in. “Ji-eun ssi, Mina will have found out that you’re alive by now, and I guarantee she’s coming for you. She wants you dead, and she’ll want to punish me for not killing you. She’ll likely want Daehyun dead, too. That’s probably the punishment she’s got in mind for me, if I know her at all. She’ll want me to kill him. To kill both of you.”

Ji-eun looked frightened. Unsurprising. Daehyun was also frightened by what was quickly approaching. “So what are we going to do?” she asked timidly.

“I don’t really have a plan other than trying to kill Mina,” Youngjae explained. “If I confront her, she will use her status over me to Order me to kill both of you.”

“Then I should go,” Daehyun said. “If you aren’t there, she has no power over me.”

“I thought that, too, but you’d be outnumbered that way. We should go together.”

“So what should I do?” Ji-eun asked then. “How can I help?”

“You should stay here,” Youngjae replied. “If you’re here, within these doors, this is your home. No one other than the two of us can come in. Vampires need a personal invitation to come into a home where there is a human present. You’ll be safe here.”

“That’s all?” She looked visibly disappointed.

Daehyun reached out for her hand and took it and squeezed gently. “I won’t be able to go all out if I’m worried about your safety. Please stay here and stay safe. Please.”

She frowned but nodded. “So now what?”

Youngjae looked at the door. “I, unfortunately, have to go out for a bit. I need to get some blood.” Daehyun felt uneasy about him leaving by himself. He was about to protest, to voice his concerns about Youngjae leaving seeming risky, when Ji-eun spoke up instead.

“You can drink my blood,” she stated calmly.

Daehyun shook his head, ferociously opposed to the idea. Youngjae answered before he could, “No, Ji-eun, I won’t drink your blood. I can’t.”

She looked at him perplexed. “You can’t?”

Daehyun squeezed her hand again. “Youngjae… was involved with your mother after she was turned into a vampire and taken from us. The taste of your blood would remind him too much of her. It’s probably hard to understand, but you’d taste like her. It would be painful,” he explained.

Youngjae nodded in agreement. Ji-eun was obviously struggling to comprehend, but it was better that way. It was better if she didn’t fully understand the world he lived in. “So I’m going to head out and find blood for myself.”

“What are you…?” Ji-eun trailed off.

“I’m going to break into a blood bank,” he explained. “It’s kind of risky since there’s security, but it’s quick, and there’s no chance of anyone getting hurt.”

She nodded, seeming satisfied.

Youngjae stood up and pulled on his shoes. Daehyun also stood up to take his hand. “Be careful,” he requested. “I have a bad feeling about you leaving on your own.”

“I’ll be fine. Plus… I’ve got the knife.” He flashed a smile, but Daehyun could see the worry lurking underneath of the carefree expression. He was hesitating, as well. He didn’t want to leave either. He sighed and pulled Daehyun to him, resting his forehead against the other’s. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Sorry for what?” Daehyun asked, confused.

Youngjae kissed him, and Daehyun forgot that about the irritation he’d felt. He forgot about the anxiety and worry. Right then, all that mattered was Youngjae’s lips on his own. “I don’t know what’s going to happen once I go outside,” Youngjae admitted softly.

“I can come with you,” Daehyun whispered.

“Stay. Watch after Ji-eun.” Youngjae hugged Daehyun even tighter, seemingly not wanting to let go.

Daehyun felt dread. Youngjae was being… weird. Something was weird. “Youngjae?” he asked quietly.

Youngjae closed his eyes and sighed, pushing Daehyun back. “I’m giving you your final Order.” He opened his eyes, and Daehyun stared deeply into Youngjae’s now blood red eyes. This Order would be powerful, and he started shaking in advance. “You will never heed another one of my Orders. You are unbound from me. I am no longer your Master.”

Youngjae turned and left swiftly, slamming the door closed behind him, but Daehyun could feel the weight of the words searing into the core of his being. He felt the bond shatter, fragmenting into tiny pieces until he could feel them no more. He sank to his knees, desperately trying to reach out for Youngjae, to feel anything of the mental connection, but nothing remained, only a hollow emptiness within his skull. He was all alone, and it was heartbreaking. Youngjae had left him all alone.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually Ji-eun sat down in front of him. “Appa,” she called quietly as she tentatively reached out to stroke his hair. “What happened?”

“He… he…” Daehyun sputtered. He couldn’t explain it to her. She had no point of reference. Youngjae’s bond with him had been his source of strength. It was how he’d survived for so long. He’d relied on Youngjae for everything. He constantly gave him a hard time. It had been fun to tease him. Fun to poke at him and see how far he could get before Youngjae reached out to bring him back in line. He’d found the mental connection comforting because, to him, it meant that Youngjae wouldn’t ever leave him. But with the bond destroyed…? “He left me all alone,” he finally whispered. He wanted to cry. “Youngjae,” he whispered hoarsely.

“He gave you freedom,” she noted quietly. She patted his cheek, trying to comfort him. “He said he’s not your master anymore, right? But you are still free to choose him. He didn’t leave you, Appa. He set you free.”

Daehyun looked up at her with wide eyes. As he opened his mouth to reply to her, there was a knock on the door. “Oi, Daehyun! Open up!” He looked at Ji-eun in horror. Himchan knocked at the door again. How had it been so fast? They must have been waiting. “Yongguk captured Youngjae not long ago. Mina wants you, too.”

Daehyun glanced at Ji-eun’s blanched face. She was terrified. “Ji-eun,” he whispered to her, “I have to go help him. Stay here.”

She nodded her understanding, eyes wide in fright. “Don’t worry, Daehyun,” Himchan said with a chuckle on the other side of the door. “I know your daughter’s in there, too. I mean, it’s pretty obvious. Otherwise, I’d have just barged right in. Go out the window and outrun me. I left my car unlocked with the keys inside. We’re all doing what we can to help you kill Mina. She sent me to capture you. Just you. But no one ever said I couldn’t give you a head start.”

Daehyun stared at the door, mouth agape. He couldn’t believe it. Himchan was… conspiring against Mina. He was… helping him. He wasted no more words and tore off the plywood that kept the light out of their apartment, opened the window, and then climbed down the fire escape to get to the ground, leaving Ji-eun behind. As long as she stayed safely inside, she would have no problems.

With that in mind, he climbed into Himchan’s car, and sped off into the darkness. He raced along, leaving the city and heading for the mountains that housed the underground home. He wondered if Mina was there and shuddered at the thought. Who knows what she’d have done to Youngjae if she was, and Daehyun worried for his safety.

It took him an hour and a half to arrive even though he’d gone well over the speed limit. He put the car in park and jumped out, leaving the door open as he dashed for the entrance. He plowed through the door, racing to the cavernous hall where he assumed Mina would be holding Youngjae if she were here. Mina had a flair for theatrics. She’d want the final showdown to have the right atmosphere. The spacious room where he’d first had sex with Youngjae seemed the most fitting for a fight.

He ran down the stairs that led to the room. It was the basement, after all, but a very stylishly decorated one. One that suited Mina’s aesthetics. He tore the door open and rushed into the room. His eyes narrowed when he saw that Mina was indeed sitting down on a chair, waiting for him. Dressed in a long, sheer white dress, she sat waiting, and Daehyun might have mistaken her for an angel if he didn’t know any better.

“Welcome, Third,” she sarcastically stated. “Come to rescue your master, did you?”

Daehyun stood silently, glaring at her.

“Bring Youngjae here,” Mina commanded.

Yongguk stepped into view, pushing a bound and gagged Youngjae in front of him, guiding him towards Mina. Daehyun felt time stop, dread filling him. Youngjae looked weak. He probably hadn’t been able to find any blood before he’d been captured, and he was also likely being mentally abused by Mina. Yongguk reached Mina and released his grip on Youngjae, who simply crumpled on the floor at her feet. Daehyun could see the two trails of blood on his neck and realized that Mina had gone through his memories. She now knew everything. “This traitorous snake has defied me every chance he’s gotten,” Mina said simply. “And I can’t stand for that kind of insubordination amongst my children. He will be killed for his insolence.”

“No…” Daehyun hissed.

“Oh, don’t worry,” she said, sadistic grin plastered on her face. “He’s going to watch you die first. And then the last Van Helsing that he so desperately tried to save. He’s going to watch me tear apart everything he cared for.”

Daehyun growled in rage, vision clouded red. He wouldn’t let her do it. He wouldn’t let Mina kill the only two beings that mattered to him. And he wouldn’t let her kill him. He crouched low, preparing to attack. Mina smirked at him, and then called to Yongguk, “Ungag him.” Yongguk bent down to do just that, and then Mina Ordered, “Youngjae, tell your Third to hold still while I kill him.”

Youngjae chuckled weakly. “I’m not his master anymore. I set him free.”

She glowered at him, murderous intent radiating from her. “I will relish killing you. I guess I’ll have to do this the hard way. Neither of you may interfere,” she Ordered Yongguk and Youngjae. She ripped the skirt of her dress, giving herself a ragged slit in the front. She bent down and reached into Youngjae’s jacket pocket, pulling out the knife. Daehyun gulped. Her wielding the blade against him would be dangerous, and he was well aware that he wouldn’t stand a chance unless he disarmed her. If the knife touched him, even just a glance, he’d likely be dead. But the same was true in reverse. If he could take back the knife, he could possibly beat her. Without it…

He cleared his head. It wasn’t worth thinking about. If he failed now, Youngjae and Ji-eun would both be killed. He would save them or he would die trying. There were no other options.

Mina swiftly pulled the knife from its sheath, and then immediately lunged at him. She was not a skilled fighter, he quickly realized, though he wasn’t much better himself. However, she was swinging the blade wildly, and it was taking all of his effort to avoid it. One nick from the blade could be devastating if it were in the right place. He managed to slip under the her arm as she lunged at him, and he was so close to sinking his teeth into her neck, but she spun around quickly, knife first, and he launched himself backwards and away from her. The force was more than he’d been expecting, and he tripped upon landing, falling onto his backside. He struggled to stand up, to get away, but she was quicker than he’d been expecting. And then he heard a shout that made the already cool blood in his body go icy.

“APPA NOOOO!”

Both he and Mina stopped and gazed at her in shock. There stood Ji-eun, looking frazzled, flanked by Jongup and Junhong. She darted toward him and his body tensed with worry. Why was she here? She was going to get killed. This couldn’t be happening. Mina saw her coming and took the knife in her hand, and threw it. It spun as it headed straight for Ji-eun. Mina’s aim was surprisingly good, and Daehyun watched in horror as the knife lodged itself in Ji-eun’s chest. Right into her heart. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

“That’s one,” Mina said cockily. And then Daehyun lunged at her, blinded by rage. No! No! No! No! Ji-eun couldn’t be dead. Not now. Not after he’d just reunited with her. Mina would pay for killing her! He sunk his fangs into her neck, iron grip around her body so that she wouldn’t escape. He would kill her. She would pay.


	13. July 11 (Daehyun)

July 11, 2043

The taste of her blood filled his mouth, and he saw her memories. Memories of being an orphan in a tiny mountain village and wandering alone. Taken in by an older man, and raised by him and his other daughters, all women between the ages of 15 to 25 in appearance. Of how she’d served the man, a vampire, Dracula, letting him feed on her blood even as a child. She’d longed to be turned, wanted it more than anything. On her 15th birthday, Dracula finally turned her. She’d loved him. Like a father and a lover, and Daehyun cringed at the memories of her being intimate with him. Her memories surged forward. He saw all of their dead bodies, all cut to pieces, and he felt Mina’s sorrow, followed swiftly by her rage. Her thirst for vengeance. He almost felt bad for her. Her existence was pitiful and sad. She’d just been a lost little girl in love with her savior. But she’d caused so much pain, and she didn’t deserve forgiveness.

He had relaxed his grip on her as he’d seen her memories, and she seized the opportunity to escape from him. She spun around to face him, and with a forceful kick to his leg, she snapped his femur. A bloodcurdling scream tore through his throat as the pain coursed through him. She was gasping, obviously weakened from having her blood drained, but it hadn’t been enough. She stood over him, victorious. Daehyun couldn’t stand. “Yongguk,” she called, “bring me my knife.” Daehyun tried to move away from her, but with the broken leg, it was impossible. It would heal on its own, but he didn’t have the time necessary. She would kill him before he could use it again. Yongguk walked toward them calmly, but his eyes betrayed him. He looked disappointed, and Daehyun felt a pang of guilt. They’d all been counting on him, but he’d let them down.

Mina, knife finally in hand, sneered down at him. “And now you’ll make two.” She took a step towards him, and then the room was filled with an otherworldly blue light. It was blinding. He couldn’t look at it, forced to close his eyes, and even then, he could see it past his eyelids. It was radiating from the direction of Ji-eun. It faded to a reasonable level then, still lighting the room brightly, and he looked over, curious. Ji-eun stood, blood staining the front of her shirt and holding a beam of light in her hands. He realized then it was the knife, as he could faintly make out its shape buried beneath the bright light. But it was no longer small, instead forming a big, glowing blue sword made of light. Her eyes shined with the same light. Daehyun was confused, and he could see the confusion radiating from Ji-eun, as well. She didn’t understand what was happening, but Ji-eun wasn’t going to back down.

“You will not harm my father,” she announced, grasping her newly formed weapon with both hands. Mina squared up to her, as she was now obviously, the bigger threat.

Mina lunged at her, hoping to catch her off guard. But Ji-eun moved with an uncanny fluidity, she stepped out of the way, swinging the sword as she did so, taking off Mina’s arm in one smooth motion. Mina screamed, enraged, blood streaming from what remained of her arm. “YOU BITCH! HOW COULD YOU?”

Unfazed, Ji-eun swung the blue sword again. Daehyun watched, awestruck, as the sword tore through Mina’s torso, right through her chest, and out her opposite shoulder. Ji-eun had… cut her in half. Easily. Without breaking a sweat. Mina managed to gasp one last time as her body fell apart, heart cut in two and her undead life extinguished.

Around him Daehyun heard the surprised gasps and murmurs of relief. Mina was… dead. She was dead. Ji-eun dropped the sword from her hands, the blue light fading rapidly, and the once again simple knife clattered against the floor. She stared at it in disbelief for a moment, and then rushed to Daehyun. She kneeled before him, wrapping his head in her arms and pulling him towards her. “Appa,” she breathed, holding him tightly.

“Why are you here?” he asked quietly. “I thought I told you to stay put.”

“You did. But Jongup-ssi and Junhong-ssi came for me. They brought me here. They said that Youngjae-ssi wanted me to come here to help you fight.”

“Youngjae?”

And then Youngjae was kneeling next to him, looking worn and weary, but thankfully still alive. “I did. I asked Yongguk to send them for her.”

“Why? Did you know what was going to happen?” Daehyun questioned.

“Yeah,” Ji-eun agreed. “What was with the… sword? I wasn’t in control of myself. It was like… some other being was guiding me.”

“I had suspicions,” Youngjae admitted. “But I had no idea what was actually going to happen. I spent a lot of time researching those Van Helsing blades. The legends varied some, but it was pretty well accepted that there were seven blades made in total and all were forged from an angel’s blade. And they all said that those of the Van Helsing bloodline were the only ones who could properly wield them. Looks like it is true though. Ji-eun brought out its full power.”

Daehyun frowned as the others gathered around. Even Himchan had returned, though he wasn’t sure how he’d managed without a vehicle. Daehyun felt the urge to protect Ji-eun from them well up within him, despite the pain still radiating from his leg. “It feels good to have Mina out of my head,” Himchan stated.

Yongguk nodded in agreement, remaining silent.

“We should dispose of her body,” Himchan suggested quietly, “Before her other servants show up here, wondering what happened.”

Youngjae nodded. “They’ll all have felt their bond with her disappear.”

Daehyun looked away, still keenly aware of the lack of Youngjae’s presence in his mind. He understood the reason for it now. Dissolving the bond and setting him free had meant that Mina couldn’t control him indirectly. It is what had given them a chance. He wondered what would happen between him and Youngjae though, as they were no longer tied together.

He rested in Ji-eun’s lap as his leg healed, the appendage tingling and numb as the bone mended itself. Left alone while the others discarded Mina’s corpse, he reached out to hold Ji-eun’s hand. “Thank you for saving me,” he told her quietly.

“I thought you didn’t want me here,” she joked softly.

He could hear her heart beating in her chest from his close proximity. Blood coated her white shirt below where the knife had entered her body. He was grateful that she was alive. “How did you do that?” he asked. “With the sword.”

“I don’t know,” she answered. “I felt the pain when the knife went into my chest. It hit my heart. The blood poured out of me with each beat. But I wasn’t… dying, so I pulled the knife out. Then that vampire was standing over you, and I couldn’t lose you again, Appa. I couldn’t. I wanted to protect you. That’s when everything went bright.”

“It was blinding,” Daehyun agreed.

“When everything went bright, this… force inside of me woke up and took control. It protected you for me. I wasn’t in control, my body just moved to protect you.”

Youngjae had returned quietly, surprising them both when he said, “I think I know the reason for that.”

“Huh?” Daehyun asked.

Youngjae sat down beside them. “The blade is constructed from a piece of an angel’s blade. Who do you think is best suited to wield them?”

They were silent for a moment, and then Ji-eun timidly suggested, “An angel?”

Youngjae nodded.

“So… Ji-eun is an angel?” Daehyun asked incredulously.

Youngjae shook his head, clarifying, “She is not an angel. However, that’s what makes the Van Helsing bloodline so special. It began when an angel that fell to earth sometime around 1550. The fallen angel had children and those children had children. Angels lose their immortality when they fall, you see, so she became mortal. And so as the end of the angel’s life approached, she broke her heavenly blade into pieces, giving one to each of her seven grandchildren. It was to protect them from demons. From evil.”

“I don’t feel like an angel,” Ji-eun said.

Youngjae laughed. “You wouldn’t. You are a human. But there is angelic power in that knife. And you, with your trace amounts of angel blood, the Van Helsing blood, are able to bring it out. I just didn’t realize it was going to be so spectacular and terrifying.”

“I think the sword was guiding me. I wasn’t in control.”

Youngjae shrugged. “I don’t know the specifics. I only know the history. My Order from Mina was to dig through records, to trace the Van Helsing bloodline. And I did. I traced it all the way to the beginning. I have been a vampire for 25 years. Studying the family history is something I’ve done periodically throughout all 25 of those years.”

Daehyun was impressed. He hadn’t realized that Youngjae had poured so much time into this, but it seemed that his efforts had resulted in finding the perfect weapon to use against Mina. Explanation finished, Youngjae stood up. “Daehyun, do you need some blood? There’s plenty stored here,” he stated, changing the subject.

Daehyun’s leg was nearly healed, he realized, but the effort his body had put into fixing it had depleted much of his energy. “I could use some.”

“Let’s go then.” Youngjae pulled Daehyun up off the ground, and then offered his hand to Ji-eun. She took it, and together they left the underground chamber, glad to have put the nightmare behind them and anxious for what was to come.

They walked into the dining area, Youngjae supporting Daehyun as he hobbled along. Ji-eun walked beside him, holding his other hand, offering additional support. The others sat at the table, sipping down cups of blood and having a quiet conversation. Daehyun felt Ji-eun's grip on his hand tighten. She was probably a little uncomfortable about the blood. As they approached, Yongguk gestured at Junhong, and the lanky vampire stood up quickly, offering his chair to Ji-eun, before pulling out seats for both Daehyun and Youngjae.

"Join us," Yongguk said. "We've got some things to discuss."

Daehyun heard Ji-eun gulp next to him, and he too worried about what would be said. The three sat down and waited for what Yongguk was going to say.

“As glad as we all are that Mina is gone, I think we need to figure out what we’re going to do. This facility belonged to her. I don’t know how her other servants felt about her. They may not want to continue to send us funds to keep living here when they realize we’ve killed her.”

Himchan grunted in agreement. “I don’t think we need to leave, but we’re going to have to figure out what to do. Though I don’t think Youngjae especially cares about what we’re going to do about the living situation. He’s been off on his own with Daehyun for years.”

“I will continue to live with Daehyun,” Youngjae stressed. “I’m not coming back here. There are too many bad memories here.”

Daehyun cast a glance at him, relieved. He wasn’t going to be abandoned. He reached out to take Youngjae’s hand, entwining their fingers together. Youngjae didn’t look at him, but he squeezed Daehyun’s hand reassuringly. “I think we have a bigger problem,” Yongguk then added. “I have no idea how many servants Mina had. I don’t know where they are. I don’t know how they felt about her. I think we need to be worried about others seeking us out.”

He looked pointedly at Ji-eun. “There will be Thirds under Order to seek out remaining members of the Van Helsing clan. And others without any other purpose who will probably still keep searching. We have to be aware that Ji-eun will continue to be in danger.”

“Then we’ll just have to protect her,” Junhong suggested casually.

Yongguk nodded in agreement. “I think that’s best. You and Jongup will watch out for her. Keep her safe from nosy visitors.” It was a casual Order to his Thirds, but they nodded eagerly. They were visibly happy to have this mission.

Ji-eun fidgeted next to Daehyun. “Isn’t it… strange for vampires to be protecting a human?” she asked. “Doesn’t it go against your nature?”

Himchan chuckled at her question. “I suppose it is a bit strange, but we never wanted any of this. Every single one of us got caught up in this after seeing a lost young girl and offering her our help. Mina simply turned us to help her track down all of your relatives. None of us ever liked killing people. It’s not fun. I’m glad it can finally be over.”

“But don’t you need to eat?” she questioned, eyeing the glasses of blood.

“Yeah,” Himchan agreed. “But we don’t kill people unless they’re already dying. Most of the blood is bought from a reputable source. Though I guess if we’re not getting money from Mina anymore, we’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do about that. That’s for us to worry about though, little Ji-eunie. Rest assured, we will watch out for you going forward.”

She seemed relieved. “If you need any help with… getting blood, let me know. I don’t know how, but I can try to help.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Youngjae said, sounding amused. “You just live your life as though nothing has changed. We’ll take care of ourselves. And we’ll make sure to take care of you, too.”

Ji-eun shook her head. “Everything has changed, though,” she declared. “I never thought I would see my dad again. I thought he was dead. And now he’s back in my life. I will do whatever it takes to make it so it can stay that way. I know my heritage. I know other vampires will probably come for me. But I won’t leave. Don’t be afraid to ask for my help if you need it. You became his family after his family was taken away. So you’re my family now, too.”

“If you leave now, you should make it back home before the sun rises,” Yongguk told Daehyun and Youngjae.

Ji-eun spoke up. “I don’t like the sound of ‘should’.”

Yongguk eyed her, surprised. “I only suggested that for your comfort. I didn’t think you’d want to stay here all day while we slept.”

“I’m tired, too. I’ve been awake for nearly 24 hours. Put me in a room by myself, and I’ll just sleep here. I’m not leaving without my dad and uh…” Daehyun watched as she visibly struggled with how she should call Youngjae.

"Just call me Youngjae," he suggested. "We appear to be about the same age, anyway. It would be strange for you to call me step father or something like that around others. And I'm sure I'll be seeing you around."

She grinned at him. "You bet you will. I'll be hitting the bar up regularly."

Himchan chuckled. “You’re a brave girl, Ji-eun. Not many humans would knowingly stick around to spend the day with vampires.”

She pursed her lips, looking firm. “It’s scary, but you said you’d protect me. Why should I feel in danger?”

He nodded in agreement, and with that the conversation finished. Yongguk stood up and announced he was going to prepare to sleep, and then everyone departed, heading for their own rooms. Youngjae called Ji-eun to him, explaining that he was going to take her to a room for her to sleep in. She followed along behind him and Daehyun, and they dropped her off in a large, stone room. “I shared this room with your mother,” Youngjae explained. “But you should sleep here. The bed is the most comfortable out of the beds, and the door locks from the inside. No one can come in unless you let them in. There are hopefully towels you can use to shower. And there should be fresh clothes you can change into, as well. I never got rid of anything. Sora’s stuff should fit you, even if it’s a little outdated.”

She nodded her understanding and then went inside. She turned around and said, “Goodnight, Youngjae. Goodnight, Appa. See you in a little while.”

“Sleep well, Ji-eunie,” Daehyun replied. With a smile, she closed the door to the room, and Daehyun followed Youngjae back to the room they’d used for the several years they’d lived here together. It was dusty, and Daehyun immediately wanted to tidy it up, but Youngjae, after closing the door, had immediately came up behind him, wrapping is arms around Daehyun’s waist, and hugged him tightly. Daehyun felt the lips on his neck as he was held close. He felt his emotions bubble to the surface. All of his fear and uncertainty and anger, and Youngjae was there, holding him, comforting him. Everything would be okay because Youngjae was there. Mina was dead, and Youngjae… was still here. Overwhelmed by his emotions, Daehyun breathed, “Youngjae.”

“I was so worried,” Youngjae admitted, the other’s breath on his neck. “I thought you were going to die fighting Mina. I was so scared I was going to lose you.”

“Mmm,” Daehyun acknowledged, relishing the comfort that radiated from his former master’s arms.

“Ji-eun saved us. She saved you. I’m sorry for deceiving you all these years. I’m sorry for upsetting you. I wish I could have told you sooner. It hurt seeing you so heartbroken, but if you knew, the others might have found out, and I couldn’t risk it. For her sake.”

“I forgive you, Youngjae,” Daehyun whispered. “I’m not mad anymore.”

Youngjae sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

“I am… curious how you kept it a secret from me.”

Youngjae let go of him and went to sit down on the bed. Daehyun went to sit down next to him. “I Ordered you not to press me about what had happened that night. And that meant not searching through my memories, either. But you could now, if you wanted. I can’t stop you anymore.”

Daehyun winced. He still felt empty where the bond between them had disappeared, but he shook his head, declining Youngjae’s offer. “I don’t need to know. I don’t want to see myself wild and out of control like I was back then. I don’t need to know the details of what you did with Ji-eun. She’s Joy Baker now, an adopted Korean American. She lived. She’s so alive and beautiful and that’s all that matters.”

Youngjae had obviously not missed his first reaction. “I’m sorry I had to cut our bond. I think you know why I did it.”

He nodded. “I heard the Order as well as you did. I just… miss you. I miss feeling you inside of me.”

Youngjae put his hand on his thigh and squeezed, playful grin on his face. “I mean, I could fix that,” he insinuated.

Daehyun scoffed, amused, but not in the mood for such joking. “I’m being serious. It feels like there’s this empty hole in my head where you used to be.”

“I know. I feel it, too. I can’t feel Mina anymore, which is a relief. But I can’t feel you either. And you know what, Daehyun? I love it. We’re equals now. I always felt, to some degree, that I was taking advantage of my role as your Master. Now I know that if you’re with me, you’re choosing it of your own free will.”

Daehyun leaned over and kissed him, needing Youngjae to know just how much he would choose him. Over and over again until the end of time. “I never felt forced into anything, Youngjae,” he whispered against Youngjae’s lips. “You kept me in check as a newborn so I could continue living with fewer regrets. You’ve allowed me to make my own choices all these years. And no matter what, I always chose you. That’s not going to change.”

Youngjae pressed his lips to his, kissing him deeply and pulling him closer, and Daehyun savored the familiar taste. As they succumbed to their passion, Daehyun realized that nothing had changed between them. It was the same as things always had been, but now there were no secrets. There was no fear of Mina. There was hope that the future could get better because the guilt of his past no longer weighed him down. For the first time since the day he’d discovered Sora’s disappearance, Daehyun truly felt free.


	14. December 25 (Youngjae)

December 25, 2043

Youngjae nearly laughed as he watched Ji-eun sitting with her mouth agape. She clearly hadn’t known that her father was a talented singer. He slid her drink in front of her as she stared, surprising her after sneaking up on her. “Didn’t know he could sing, huh?”

She nodded. “Yeah. He’s really good.”

Youngjae grinned. “He used to be a vocal coach back in the day.”

“That’s cool. My dad used to be a professional singer,” Taekhyun added. “So I can tell that your brother can sing really well.” Ji-eun had started dating the young man not long ago, after he’d gotten moved to a different department. She explained to him and Daehyun that she didn’t want to have a relationship with a co-worker, but once he’d moved, she hadn’t been so worried about it. They rarely even saw each other in passing during the day, so Ji-eun wasn’t concerned about rumors around the office or about the awkwardness that would result if they happened to break up. She seemed happy with him, and who Ji-eun dated wasn’t any of Youngjae’s business, anyway.

“I can sing too, you know,” Youngjae added. “I was going to college for music, but alas…” He shrugged. Ji-eun knew the full truth, but her boyfriend would think he was talking about not having enough money.

Her phone started vibrating right then. “Ah… it’s my dad,” she stated. She picked her phone up and headed out the door to talk in the quieter environment outside. She wasn’t outside long, and she returned with cheeks rosy from the cold. “They wanted to wish me a Merry Christmas,” she said. “And they wanted me to tell you guys, as well.”

Daehyun finished his set of Christmas songs and walked up to them to take a break, putting an arm around Ji-eun’s shoulder.

“Daehyun hyung, you’re really talented,” Taekhyun complimented.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling bashfully. Youngjae thought the expression looked extra cute. If he wasn’t on shift, he’d have kissed him.

Youngjae went back to work, leaving Daehyun to chat with his daughter and her new boyfriend. They were going to go back to Ji-eun’s apartment in a bit to eat dinner, but because Youngjae had to work that night, they’d stopped by the bar to see him first. He appreciated their thoughtfulness. And he really was glad that Daehyun would now leave the house and do things on his own. He’d been singing at the bar on occasion, simply because he wanted to. More frequently he'd go out to visit Ji-eun. He was no longer a shut in. He’d even devoted himself to learning how to control his thirst, just so he could spend more time with Ji-eun and not have to worry about human contact. He was happy. It was obvious to Youngjae how much Daehyun had healed in the last 6 months.

He, however, did feel a little glum about having to miss out on the get together. He considered Daehyun and Ji-eun his family now. He’d fortunately celebrated the holiday with Daehyun before coming to work that day, but unfortunately, their celebration had forced him to make extra sure his shirt was buttoned the whole way up and his tie was tightly tied around his neck. Daehyun had left so many marks on his neck and shoulders. He could still feel where the other’s teeth had punctured his skin, over and over. Things sure had gotten a lot more exciting without Daehyun being bound to carry out his Orders.

Daehyun gave him a goodbye kiss when they left, and Youngjae thought about Ji-eun once more. He had offered her the knife ages ago. The same day he’d taken her home after she’d slain Mina. She’d refused to take it, insisting that she believed in them. “You’ll protect me,” she’d said. “And I know you use it to drink blood without hurting people. You need it more than I do.”

He hadn’t pushed the issue, but he firmly believed it should be in her possession. It did him little good. She was the rightful possessor, the one who could bring out its true power. She’d be safer with the Van Helsing blade than if she relied on them. He’d seen its power first hand. But if Ji-eun insisted, for now, he was okay with letting the issue go.

HIs shift seemed to drag on. Usually it felt quicker, but each minute felt like hours. It wasn’t an exciting evening. There was no one to chat with. Mostly just single people lingering at the bar, drinking away their sorrows over not having a significant other to spend the night with. He pulled his phone out as they weren’t especially busy and saw a message from Daehyun.

I’m coming back over to the bar. Ji-eun is going to bed.

Youngjae chuckled, but didn’t reply.

“Hey, Youngjae!” his manager called.

“Yeah?” he questioned as he walked toward the man.

“Why don’t you head home? I can close up tonight. We’re not busy.”

“You sure?” he asked, excited. He usually insisted on closing, wanting the money. But today he mostly wanted to spend time with Daehyun. It was the first time they’d bothered with the holiday. The first time they were both happy enough to celebrate, and Youngjae was eager to see Daehyun once more. Even though it had only been a few hours since he’d left.

“Go ahead. I’ll take care of these few guys left. No worries. Have a merry Christmas. Tell Daehyun too, will you?”

“You too,” Youngjae said with a smile. “And I will let him know.” He clocked out and pulled his coat on, bounding outside. He messaged Daehyun to let him know to just go home. He was walking quickly, just leaving the parking lot, and he almost ran into someone. Stopping quickly and looking up, he realized it was Himchan.

“Yo,” the elder vampire greeted.

“What’s up?” Youngjae asked, somewhat concerned.

“Nothing. I wanted to tell you that we haven’t seen any activity from vampires in other countries since Mina died.”

“So you came all the way out here to tell me that?” Youngjae asked. “You could have just called.”

The elder chuckled. “No, I came out here to buy some blood. But I figured since I was in the area, I’d give you the good news personally. We’re still going to remain vigilant, but I don’t think that we’ve got much to actually worry about.”

“You’re still able to buy blood, huh?” Youngjae asked curiously.

Himchan nodded. “The only uh… siblings of ours that reached out to us were the ones who stayed with her in Transylvania. Mina had never allocated an heir to her title, so they decided to distribute the assets amongst all of her children. I don’t think it’s evenly split, but we’ve got enough to live off of for the foreseeable future,” he explained. “Plus, the guy I buy the blood from said he’d give me a discount if I helped him do jobs here and there.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. I just wish I could tell if Mina’s other Seconds are upset or not. I can’t tell when I talk to them.”

“They probably aren’t,” Youngjae said. “She was with them all the time. They probably had it the worst. We had a much smaller number of people to track down here. The bloodline was very concentrated. In Europe and the Americas, the search was going to be a lot more extensive.”

Himchan nodded in agreement. “You know,” he said suddenly, completely changing the subject, “I always knew that Daehyun’s daughter was alive.”

“How?” Youngjae asked incredulously.

“How could I not? The blood in that apartment was obviously not hers. It smelled nothing like Sora. And I really realized it when you brought Daehyun back with you and the blood smelled nothing like his either.”

“Then…”

“Why did I keep it a secret?” he finished. “Simple. My Order was to find Van Helsings within the country. The kid wasn’t in the country anymore. I tracked her down. I found out she’d left, and then it wasn’t my problem anymore. And it felt really good to spite Mina like that, especially after she’d driven Sora to kill herself. Losing her really hurt a lot. She was family.”

Youngjae nodded. It had really hurt at the time. He’d moved past it so slowly, but in the last few months, it had ceased to be painful at all. Mina was dead. The past was settled. “I’m glad you didn’t spill. Really.”

Himchan smiled kindly. “Me, too. It turned out for all of our benefit in the end. Life is good without a master.”

Youngjae nodded, and then he felt someone hold his hand. He jumped at first, but quickly realized that Daehyun had crept up on him. “I kind of miss life with a master,” he shared, sidling up beside him and resting his cheek on Youngjae’s shoulder. God, he was cute today.

Himchan shook his head and rolled his eyes. “It’s not the same. You actually liked your master.”

“I still like him even though he not my master anymore,” Daehyun declared sweetly, cuddling against his arm. Youngjae gave him a look. He was behaving way more lovey-dovey than he ever did, and it confused him. Then he saw the mischievous twinkle in the other’s eyes and knew, knew, Daehyun had ulterior motives. Youngjae wasn’t even going to bother to pretend like he didn’t notice. Daehyun was too cute to resist.

Daehyun had done a poor job of keeping his behavior concealed because Himchan, seeming amused, suddenly said, “Looks like I’m interrupting. I’ll see you later.” He excused himself, leaving Youngjae alone with a very cute and clingy Daehyun.

“You…” Youngjae started.

“I want you all to myself,” Daehyun stated as he started pulling him along, headed back to their nearby apartment.

Youngjae exhaled happily, thrilled by the other’s statement. “How was dinner?”

“I missed you the whole time.”

“You missed me?” Youngjae was a bit surprised, as Daehyun spent most of his time now doing things for and going to see his daughter. He often felt like maybe he’d fallen to second place in Daehyun’s heart now that Ji-eun was in his life. It made him jealous, and he hated the small jealous voice that sometimes told him he wasn’t good enough. But hearing Daehyun say he’d missed him…

Daehyun stopped walking and turned around to face him. He pulled Youngjae to him, causing him to inhale in surprise, and then Daehyun’s lips brushed his. “I miss you every time we’re apart,” he murmured. “No one in this world knows me better than you do, Youngjae.”

Youngjae smiled. “That’s true.”

He felt a snow flake hit his nose and looked up. “It’s a little late,” Daehyun commented. “It’s not a white Christmas anymore.”

“Let’s go home,” Youngjae said, chuckling.

Hand in hand, they did just that. It wasn’t a surprise to him that as soon as they arrived home, and he shut the door, Daehyun was kissing him. The kisses were so gentle and sweet, and Youngjae moaned into Daehyun’s mouth. As he explored the other’s mouth, he felt Daehyun’s hands slide up his chest, reaching to undo his tie and then slowly unbuttoning his shirt, pulling it so it was no longer tucked into his pants. Daehyun kissed him all over, his jaw, his neck, his shoulder, easing his unbuttoned shirt off and leaving his entire upper body exposed.

Youngjae reached for his lover’s chin so their mouths could come together once more. As their tongues entwined with each other, Youngjae felt himself grow hard. Daehyun was so intoxicating. His taste, his scent, everything. He’d never get tired of the other vampire. He stepped back for a moment, gazing at his love, his Daehyun, before taking his hand and leading him to their bedroom. Daehyun eased his own shirt over his head, and then pulled Youngjae into bed with him. And then time seemed to stand still as Daehyun simply cuddled against Youngjae, nuzzling against his neck and clutching onto his arm. “I love you,” he intoned softly, and Youngjae felt his words resonate to the core of his being.

He reached out to stroke the other vampire’s cheek. “You’re the love of my life, Daehyunnie.” And then Daehyun was kissing him, nipping his neck, so desperate and needy, and he was just as desperate. He needed Daehyun. He needed release. He rolled over, holding himself above his love as he brushed his lips along the other’s jawline. Daehyun moaned, and Youngjae just wanted to pleasure him endlessly until the sun rose. “I want you so much,” Youngjae breathed against Daehyun’s neck.

“Take me, Youngjae,” the other whined.

He withdrew momentarily to slide his lower garments off his body, and then returned to do the same for Daehyun. He watched with wide, lust filled eyes as Daehyun’s cock caught in his boxers, getting pulled down with the material and then springing upright once it was free of the fabric. He took it into his hands and stroked it firmly, drawing a moan from Daehyun’s lips, and he noticed that Daehyun had bit his lower lip, blood trickling from the cut. He didn’t release Daehyun’s cock, continuing to caress the hard flesh as he moved to kiss his partner, cleaning up the blood and savoring the taste he loved so much. Human blood was filling. He needed it to live, to fuel his body. But the taste of Daehyun’s blood was his favorite. Nothing else compared.

He pulled his hand away so he could reach for the night stand, grabbing the bottle of lube, and spreading a copious amount on his fingertips, he then reached between their bodies, spreading Daehyun’s legs open wide before pressing two fingers inside. He moved them slowly, watching intently as precum pearled at the tip of the other’s cock, feeling his his own cock strain for release. “Please, Youngjae,” Daehyun whined. “I want you.”

He removed his hand, wrapping it around his erection, smearing the remaining lube onto himself. Daehyun spread his legs in invitation, and Youngjae eased the tip of his length into the other. “Fuck,” he groaned languidly. “You feel so good.”

“Mmmmm,” Daehyun acknowledged, closing his own eyes. “Fuck me, Youngjae.”

Youngjae couldn’t, wouldn’t deny such a delectable request. He slammed his hips into Daehyun, moaning at the tightness. Daehyun pulled his face to his, kissing him, grunting at the peak of each of Youngjae’s thrusts. Youngjae reached between them, taking Daehyun into his own hand, stroking his length with the same rhythm he was thrusting, and turning the other into a mess of arousal underneath him.

“I’m… ah, Youngjae,” he gasped. “Ahhh. I’m gonna… cum.” His body went rigid as he did so, cum spilling out of the tip of his cock, and Youngjae kept touching him, coaxing out all of the white fluid. He felt himself nearing his own climax, the sensation spreading from his belly, the need to empty his load, to relieve the tension in his loins. Daehyun whimpered, and it was more than he could take. He came, his vision clouding in euphoria, as he felt himself unload his own cum within the other.

He rested atop the other after he’d finished. “You’re so amazing,” Daehyun told him, reaching up to cup his cheek. “I love you.”

Youngjae smiled at him, feeling tired after his orgasm. “Love you, too,” he slurred.

“Are you tired already?” Daehyun asked, sounding concerned.

“You wore me out before work,” Youngjae admitted.

“Getting old and frail on me?” he teased, and Youngjae glared in return.

“You’re older than me,” he retorted.

Daehyun quickly reversed their positions, and then suddenly Youngjae was under him. He felt the excitement building again because he knew where this was going. “Well…” Youngjae felt Daehyun’s fingers enter him, pressing against his prostate, and filling him with pleasure. “I suppose I’ll just have to tire myself out.”

Youngjae gave him a cheeky grin, followed by a moan he couldn’t help. “Good,” he said. And then Daehyun was serious and amazing. Daehyun was amazing. He filled him up, thrusting into him powerfully, giving him bliss so mind-blowing he could hardly believe it was real. Daehyun pounding into him. Daehyun touching him. He came so hard he saw stars. God, Daehyun was amazing. He felt Daehyun cum then too, and after a brief moment, he felt Daehyun slide out of him, moving to rest beside him.

Their chests heaved from the effort, and Daehyun rested his head on Youngjae’s shoulder. In silence, he gently pulled at strands of his lover’s hair. Daehyun turned toward him, wrapping an arm around his torso, nuzzling against his neck. And then he realized that Daehyun had fallen asleep. So quickly, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. So much for all that big talk about not being tired. He kissed the top of Daehyun’s head. “I love you,” he whispered even though the other couldn’t hear him. “You really are my everything.”


	15. December 25 (Voidwalker)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bonus chapter! ^^

December 25, 2043

Hoonbi sat in his car waiting for his customer. The man, scratch that, the vampire had been his client for quite some time. Hoonbi hadn’t cared that he was a vampire. It honestly didn’t matter to him at all. As long as he got paid, he’d sell anyone anything.

Well… maybe not anyone. There were rules he had to follow as a voidwalker. And chief among those rules was to not do anything that would upset the balance among worlds. This world, his home world, had vampires lurking in the shadows, unbeknownst to the vast majority of those who lived there. Many other worlds he’d travelled to did not.

The vampire arrived a bit later than usual, pulling up in his car and seeming apologetic as he got out of the vehicle. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I ran into an acquaintance.”

“It’s okay, Himchan-ssi,” Hoonbi said cordially as he stepped out of his own car. In the twenty plus years he’d been selling the vampire blood, not once had he felt in danger. Today was no exception. Though Hoonbi was perhaps better equipped to handle a vampire attack than most others, which offered him some reassurance, his comfort around the vampire was mostly because his client had always been polite and non-threatening. “And uh… Merry Christmas, I guess. If you celebrate such things.”

Himchan laughed heartily. “Merry Christmas, Hoonbi-ssi.”

Hoonbi smiled. He knew a little about his client, having chatted with him some through the years. They were around the same age, he knew, though the vampire was physically stuck at age 24. Part of him wished that the other wasn’t a vampire because he knew that they could have been pretty good friends otherwise. However, he didn’t want to closely associate with vampires. They tended to live dangerous lives, and as he also lived quite dangerously, he had wanted to avoid any extra trouble. Regardless, he thought somewhat fondly of his vampire customer. “I threw in a little extra so you could have a Christmas feast,” Hoonbi shared. “It’s on me. As thank you for being a loyal customer all these years.”

“Then it’s a merry Christmas indeed,” Himchan laughed.

Hoonbi grinned and opened the trunk of his car, as well as the back doors. He’d packed eight suitcases full of blood packages, plus a small duffel bag with extra blood. It would be enough to last Himchan and his coven for the next month. Sufficient time for Hoonbi to get more blood from his doctor client for them. Hoonbi kind of smiled to himself. Yeo Hoonbi. Voidwalker, capable of travelling to branch universses, collector of magical items, and supplier for supernatural beings. Not a career he could openly brag about, but it was exciting and fulfilling, none the less.

Together, they transferred the suitcases into Himchan’s vehicle. “I’ll bring them back to you, as always,” Himchan promised. “And I’ve got something special to pay you with today.”

Himchan handed him several gold pieces, but then he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a knife. It looked plain. Nondescript except for the somewhat decorative VH carved on the handle.  But the carving gave it away. “Is this…?” Hoonbi asked, eyes wide.

“A Van Helsing blade?” Himchan finished for him. “Yes. Something I claimed from my former master’s collection.”

“Former?” Hoonbi asked. He knew enough about vampires to know that it was rare for them to be without a master.

“She was killed,” Himchan explained quickly.

“A vampire hunter get her?”

“Nope,” Himchan said. “Just regular human.”

“Who?” he pressed harder. If there was someone capable of killing a vampire, someone not a hunter, he wanted to know about it.

“Ah… I guess she’s not all that regular. She’s one of the Van Helsings. Her name is Jung Ji-eun,” Himchan stated.

Hoonbi’s eyes lit with understanding. He knew about the disappearance of Jung Ji-eun. He’d seen the news at the time and known the truth, though at the time, he wouldn’t have guessed it had anything to do with the Van Helsing family line. The father and daughter pair had become entangled in the schemes of vampires. One vampire, specifically. Mina Harker. He’d stayed out of the entire affair. There was no money in it for him, only more danger than necessary, and he was no vampire hunter. “Was this her blade?” Hoonbi asked.

Himchan shook his head. “No, this was one that my master had taken from a different Van Helsing line years ago. She had three stored away in her castle in Transylvania. I just managed to lay claim to one. And now it’s yours. Use it to protect yourself.”

“I’m no Van Helsing. It won’t do me much good.”

“True,” Himchan agreed. “I’ve seen its true power when held by its rightful owner. It’s spectacular. But innately, the blade protects against evil. And I just feel like you could use that more than most.”

Hoonbi nodded and pocketed the knife, thankful for the thoughtfulness. “I guess you can’t have me dying on you. Where else would you get blood from?” he teased.

“Precisely,” Himchan replied with an impish grin.

The value of such an item was hard to calculate. Someone would likely pay good money to get their hands on it, but Hoonbi realized that even the highest bidders were unlikely to understand its true value. Only people like him even knew that the blades existed. And he wouldn't have even known except he'd been in regular contact with vampires who had been trying to find them. He'd done his research, of course. That was part of his job. He always had to know if the cost of an item was worth the risk of obtaining it. He mentally set the selling price for the blade exorbitantly high, deciding that he'd keep it for himself. It certainly would come in handy. And if someone was willing to pay the asking price, well then, he'd probably never have to work another day in his life.

He cleared his throat. "Did you think about my offer from last time?" Hoonbi asked.

Himchan nodded. "I did. I'd like to take you up on it."

"Good. I'm getting older. It's a little difficult to do some of the stuff I used to. So it'll be nice to have someone helping me out from time to time."

"I appreciate the offer. Working for blood will relieve some of the anxiety my brother's feel."

"And I'm happy to help you out, as well. You guys haven't caused me any trouble. Just keep in mind that this job can get pretty dangerous," Hoonbi warned.

"Then it's very good that I'm immortal."

Hoonbi chuckled. “Very good, indeed. I’ll give you a call when I’ve got a job for you.” And with that he headed on his way. He was glad that Himchan had decided to work for him. It meant he wouldn’t have to put so much stress on his aging body, and he’d have a companion to take along with him that he didn’t have to worry about too much.

He checked his phone quickly before heading home. He had received a message from his nephew, wishing him a merry Christmas and saying he wanted to see him again before too long. Taekhyunnie was a cute kid, and Hoonbi was glad for the well wished. He was also glad that his nephew had a significant other. The kid had been so focused on advancing within his maternal uncle’s company for so long, and it was kind of a relief to know he was making time for other things in his life.

He received another message right as he went to put his car in drive. His love. “Can you bring back dinner tonight?”

Hoonbi smiled. “Of course. I’ll get your favorite.”

“Really? You’ll get me some Testu ramen?”

Hoonbi chuckled. “I am a Voidwalker, after all.” He quickly set his watch for the coordinates of the dimensional gate closest to the restaurant in Japan, and off he went to get his boyfriend his favorite dish for Christmas dinner.


	16. April 29 (Joy)

April 29, 2045

Joy safely tucked her wedding dress into her closet, having expressly forbidden Taekhyun from taking a peek. Her fiancé had risen in rank at work. So had she, of course, but less so. He was section leader for contract procurement. She was still working on translations, but with bigger and more important projects. Her Korean had improved, though she and Taekhyun bounced back and forth between English and Korean fairly seamlessly. She’d improved her skills largely from spending so much time with her father and Youngjae.

She sighed. Her father and Youngjae. She honestly didn’t know what to do about them. It had been nearly three years since she’d stumbled upon her father and had her whole world flipped upside down. Vampires were real and lurking in the shadows, and she… she was a descendant of the Van Helsing bloodline. Of course, the only vampires she knew had sworn to protect her, and her heritage did give her the ability to protect herself, as well.

The bigger vampire issue that plagued her mind was that eventually Taekhyun was going to wonder why Daehyun and Youngjae hadn’t aged any, especially since they were getting married soon, and he was going to see the pair for quite some time. She had to tell him. She had to. She couldn’t keep this secret up throughout her marriage. It had already proven to be difficult, but it was just going to get more and more difficult as time wore on. The anxiety about telling him had tempered her enthusiasm for the wedding. For everything, if she was honest.

He walked into the bedroom and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him, leaning down to kiss her neck. “What has you so lost in thought?” he breathed against her neck.

“Nothing,” she replied quietly. “Just thinking about things.”

“Anything you want to talk about?”

She stayed silent for a few moments too long, and he hugged her more tightly. “It’s okay, Taekhyunnie,” she assured. “I’m just… it’s complicated.”

She still hadn’t told him about everything. He knew Daehyun called her Ji-eun because it was her name from before she’d been adopted. But he didn’t know the full truth. She felt guilty for not having shared that information, and she desperately wanted to tell him, but what if he thought she was crazy? What if he got mad at her for not telling him before? She didn’t want her past to ruin her relationship. The problem was… it wasn’t all in her past. Her father was a part of her present. “Joy, I know you’ve got some dark stuff in your past. You said you saw your dad get attacked and dead on the floor of his apartment. That kind of thing sticks with you forever. But I promise, I won’t leave. No matter what. I love you.”

“Thank you, Taekhyunnie. I will tell you. I promise. I just… need to figure out how.”

“Why don’t you just tell me now?”

She gulped hard. “It involves Daehyun and Youngjae. And I don’t want to share if they aren’t okay with it.”

He stepped away and sighed heavily. “I think I know what the secret is.”

She looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. “You do?”

Taekhyun reached out to take her hand, running his thumb against the back of her hand reassuringly. “Do you think I haven’t noticed that we only see them at night? That they never eat or drink with us and need invited into places? That neither of them have changed since the day I met them?”

She stared at him, eyes wide in shock.

He chuckled at her flabbergasted expression. “My uncle Hoonbi deals with magical beings and items,” he explained. “I’ve known about vampires for a long time.” He shuddered at some distant memory. “And I’ve had my own unfortunate encounters. I avoid it as much as I can now. I’m a businessman. I don’t want sucked into anymore wild adventures.”

She stared at him in complete astonishment. She’d met Hoonbi before. He’d introduced himself as an antique collector and seemed normal enough, but she had no reason to doubt Taekhyun. “If you’ve known… How long? Why did you let me keep thinking I was fooling you?”

“I’ve known since… well, since I first met Youngjae.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “I’ve seen enough weird supernatural shit that I could just… see it. I knew he wasn’t human. It wasn’t hard to figure out he was a vampire after that. But he was minding his own business, so I minded my own. I’m not messing with vampires.”

“Is your uncle… like a vampire hunter or something?” she asked suddenly, feeling somewhat scared for her father and Youngjae.

Taekhyun laughed. “No. I think he mostly sells blood to vampires in exchange for rare items. And vampires tend to collect rare items through the years. They’re paying customers, so he wouldn’t exactly want them dead.”

She was silent for a moment. It was almost unbelievable that Taekhyun knew. He’d known all along. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that you knew?”

“I… honestly wasn’t sure if you knew the truth, and I didn’t want to scare you away from getting to know your brother. Plus, I barely knew you at the time.”

Joy giggled. “Well… you don’t know everything, at least.”

“What don’t I know?”

“Daehyun is… he’s actually my dad.”

Taekhyun’s eyes went wide in surprise, but he recovered quickly as understanding flooded his expression. “So that’s why you seem so uncomfortable calling him ‘oppa’.”

She nodded. “I saw him lying dead on the floor as a very young child. Then I was adopted and mourned him in my own childish way, but my memories of the time are so hazy. I believed he was dead. I wasn’t wrong. Being a vampire isn’t the same as being alive.”

“Yeah,” Taekhyun agreed.

Joy still struggled to understand why he’d kept his knowledge to himself for so long. But she’d kept it a secret too. “So uh… can we promise to not keep secrets like this from each other anymore?”

“Yeah. And I will tell you more about my adventures with my uncle. I saw some wild stuff as a kid.”

“I’d love to hear it,” Joy agreed. It was weird to know that Taekhyun knew the secret she’d been carrying, but it was also a huge relief. “Does… your uncle know about… my dad? Do your parents know?”

Taekhyun frowned. “I honestly have no idea. I didn’t tell them. I would guess Uncle Hoonbi knows. I doubt there would be vampires living here without him knowing about it.”

Joy nodded her understanding. “I suppose we’ll bring that up when we have to.”

“Yeah,” Taekhyun agreed. He hugged her suddenly. “I love you, Joy. My parents do, too. So don’t worry too much. It’ll be fine.”

She tilted her head up to kiss him, and he pulled her close as his lips touched hers. Then they were in bed, the sky growing dark as night approached, moaning each other’s names. Making love, passionately. She could enjoy it again. The weight of her secret had been lifted. They finished, lounging together comfortably with Taekhyun resting his arm over her waist. She didn’t know what the future held. Daehyun, her father, a vampire. Youngjae, his partner, also a vampire. Jongup, yet another vampire, who she knew was on the roof of the apartment building making sure she was safe. The rest of the coven she’d set free. What did the future hold for a human so entangled in the lives of vampires? Was she putting them in danger? Was she putting Taekhyun in danger?

She sighed. Taekhyun still slept beside her, and she climbed out of bed, pulling her clothes back on and using the bathroom. She headed out of the apartment, making her way to the roof. She could see Jongup sitting at the edge of the roof, feet dangling below him, staring down at his phone screen. “Ji-eun,” he said without looking up from his phone.

“Hey,” she called softly.

He looked up, glancing back at her. “Did you need something?”

“I…” She looked off into the distance. “I told Taekhyun about my dad and Youngjae today.”

“Oh…” Jongup. “How did he react?”

“He… knew. He already knew that they were both vampires.”

Jongup nodded. “Then it sounds like you don’t need to worry anymore, Ji-eunie. Get married without any reservations. You love him. I’ll keep you safe.”

“Thanks, Jonguppie,” she said kindly.

He smiled at her fondly. “Go get back in bed with your fiancée. You stink like him.”

She scowled but knew he was teasing. He hadn’t really helped her work through her worries, but she felt better. Jongup would always protect her. She headed back to her apartment and found the Van Helsing knife she’d stashed in her underwear drawer, wrapped in a piece of cloth. She stared at it. Its appearance was so simple, completely unremarkable. But she knew what it was capable of. And someday she'd also tell Taekhyun about that too. The blades power and why she could use it. That it was a weapon against evil. Youngjae had insisted she take it, and once her father had started working in exchange for blood, she’d taken it. And now… if she had Jongup to protect her, she’d be sure to use the blade to protect Taekhyun. She might not know what the future held, but she wouldn’t let her life be torn apart again. She would be ready.

She put the blade away, and climbed into bed, snuggling next to Taekhyun who still slept soundly. She fell asleep feeling his warmth and vowing to do whatever it took to ensure her own long-lasting happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> There is a sequel planned for this, but I have no idea if or when I'll ever get to it. If I do, I'll post it. Otherwise, enjoy what is available! ^^


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